Snow returns Monday afternoon; heavier snow Monday night into Tuesday
This isn't an April Fool's joke from your local meteorologists.
Snow is in the forecast again, and it could be heavy at times Monday night into Tuesday.
Spring hasn't been cancelled, it's just delayed a bit.
The big picture
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The first wave of snow moves into southwestern Minnesota Monday morning, then spreads to the northeast.
Snow could arrive in the Twin Cities by early Monday afternoon, then continue into Monday evening.
The first wave will probably drop less than one inch of snow in the Twin Cities by late Monday afternoon with additional snow Monday evening, but some slick spots are possible during afternoon/evening drive time. Two to three inches of snow are possible in central Minnesota by Monday evening.
The main event is overnight Monday night through Tuesday morning, with several inches of snow possible.
Tuesday morning rush hour is expected to be very slow.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Monday through Tuesday evening:
The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the strength of the signal that returns to the radar, not to the amount of snow.
The snow could be mixed with light rain or drizzle at times Monday afternoon.
Snow amounts
Highest snow totals are expected to be over south-central and southeastern Minnesota, but the southern part of the Twin Cities metro area could see 6 or 7 inches of snow by the time it ends Tuesday afternoon.
Slightly lower snow totals are expected over the northern part of the metro area.
Here's the National Weather Service summary of the snow potential:
A change in the track of the low pressure system will cause a shift in the highest snow amounts, so check later forecasts.
Updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and you can see updated weather information on the MPR news live weather blog.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation will provide road condition updates.
Is April snow unusual?
According to the Minnesota State Climatology Office, we average 2.5 inches of snow during the month of April in the Twin Cities:
That's a 30-year average.
Sometimes we get very little snow in April, occasionally we get a lot of snow.
We've seen one-half inch of snow or less in the past three Aprils in the Twin Cities:
In April of 2013, 17.9 inches of snow were tallied at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Only a trace of snow was seen in April of 2012.
April can give us a wide variety of weather!