After melt, winter returns to SE Minnesota

Published 10:26 am Monday, January 23, 2017

After a streak of highs above freezing, Austin is dropping back into winter.

Austin started the week with slick roads and freezing drizzle Monday morning, and it could just be the start.

The National Weather Service in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, has issued a winter storm watch for Mower County from noon Tuesday until 3 p.m. Wednesday as a system could bring 4 to 7 inches of snow.

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The snow is expected to be wet and roads could become slippery quickly. The system could affect both the Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning commutes.

As of Monday morning, the weather service was still watching where the heaviest snowfall would track, and some uncertainty remained about the snow totals. However, Austin was in the zone for the heaviest expected snow, as the weather service was tracking the bulk of the storm to be centered around the Interstate 90 corridor from near Albert Lea east through Austin and past Rochester.

winter-storm

With highs near 35 Tuesday, the system is expected to begin as rain and transition to snow by Tuesday evening as temperatures drop.

After a high near 32 on Tuesday, high temperatures will drop into the 20s for the remainder of this week.