Power went out at about 6:40 p.m. Tuesday on the north end of Albert Lea, and residents spent more than three hours in the dark.

An Alliant Energy spokesman said about 400 customers were without power. Two downed power lines near Hammer Road and Bridge Avenue reportedly caused the outage. Witnesses reported seeing the lines shoot electric arcs.

The power went out, came back on briefly, then went out again. The spokesman said weather caused the lines to go down. The power returned for some at 8:18 p.m. and for others shortly before 10 p.m.

A winter storm arrived in Albert Lea on Tuesday in the form of a spring storm. Rain pelted the city through the latter half of the day, even though only a third of an inch fell.

The power outage caused north-end merchants to close early and caused the cancellation of sports contests at the Albert Lea High School.

Dozens of schools cancelled classes as a snowstorm moved across central and northern Minnesota. Albert Lea once again evaded snow. The storms seem to be passing to the north or to the south — knock on wood.

A storm warning was in effect for much of Minnesota for today, with the heaviest snow in central Minnesota. The National Weather Service predicted up to more than a foot of snow from Fergus Falls to Duluth by this afternoon.