Snow moves out, weather improves for PM commute

Digging out

Snow has moved east of Minnesota this afternoon, and travel conditions should gradually improve for afternoon and evening rush hour today. Radars show the snow swirl tracking east through Wisconsin this afternoon.

• Latest La Crosse, Wis., radar loop

Today's quick hitting storm dumped a solid 3 to 6 inches or more in the Twin Cities metro area and eastern Minnesota as the storm intensified overhead. Scenes like this were typical on metro freeways today.

Some impressive snowfall totals came down for a a system of relatively brief duration. This was a quick hitting storm, and dumped its snowy payload in a hurry this morning. For once, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport seems to be in the snow bullseye, with a snowfall total of 6.3 inches.

Here's a look at the snowfall totals map from the Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service:

Here's the list of snowfall totals from the Twin Cities NWS:

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN

1200 PM CST THU JAN 30 2014

SNOW REPORTS LISTED BY AMOUNT

 INCHES  LOCATION                 ST  COUNTY           TIME

 ------  -----------------------  --  --------------   -------

  6.30   MSP INTL AIRPORT         MN  HENNEPIN         1157 AM

  6.00   NORTH MINNEAPOLIS        MN  HENNEPIN         1146 AM

  5.50   NORTHFIELD               MN  RICE             1116 AM

  5.20   FRIDLEY                  MN  ANOKA            0835 AM

  5.00   EAST FARMINGTON          WI  POLK             1047 AM

  4.70   WATERTOWN                MN  CARVER           1116 AM

  4.60   OWATONNA                 MN  STEELE           1118 AM

  4.30   LAKEVILLE                MN  DAKOTA           1001 AM

  4.00   CUMBERLAND               WI  BARRON           1136 AM

  4.00   BLAINE                   MN  ANOKA            0906 AM

  4.00   2 NE NORTH MINNEAPOLIS   MN  HENNEPIN         0817 AM

  4.00   MAPLE PLAIN              MN  HENNEPIN         0741 AM

  4.00   LITCHFIELD               MN  MEEKER           0707 AM

  3.90   BLOOMINGTON              MN  HENNEPIN         1047 AM

  3.50   MANKATO                  MN  BLUE EARTH       1001 AM

  3.50   S MAPLETON               MN  BLUE EARTH       0910 AM

  3.40   NEW HOPE                 MN  HENNEPIN         0700 AM

  3.00   5 NE FOREST LAKE         MN  CHISAGO          0918 AM

  3.00   1 E ST MICHAEL           MN  WRIGHT           0817 AM

  3.00   DELANO                   MN  WRIGHT           0645 AM

  2.90   3 SSE SOUTH MINNEAPOLIS  MN  HENNEPIN         0817 AM

  2.80   NWS CHANHASSEN           MN  CARVER           1157 AM

  2.80   EAU CLAIRE               WI  EAU CLAIRE       1024 AM

Improving PM commute weather

We may be dealing with some residual snow patches on metro freeways into this evening as crews complete the cleanup from today's snow, but the falling snow is over.

The weather will be much better for the afternoon rush and this evening than what we saw this morning. Gusty northwest winds will cause some blowing snow in open areas.

Here's the GOES 1 km visible satellite shot this afternoon showing sunny skies and winds blowing in colder temps behind the system.

Cool but quiet weekend

The weather will mellow the next few days, no big snows in sight. Temperatures will be chilly with some sub-zero nights, but not nearly as cold as what we endured earlier this week.