The Weather Channel

by Meteorologists Chris Dolce and Jonathan Erdman

A storm system will enter the West Sunday into Monday and scoot through the Rockies before tracking from the Plains to the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest Tuesday into Wednesday.

See: Western ski conditions

For those of you in the Upper Midwest, this will be winter's reminder that we are not done yet and we will have to wait a little longer before moving on to more pleasant days ahead. Then again, perhaps no reminder is needed as March is the second snowiest month on average in both Minneapolis, Minn. (10.4") and Fargo, N.D. (8.7"). March is typically the snowiest month on average in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The other bad news is this storm will dump more snow on river basins across the Upper Midwest which will then melt once a warm up arrives and contribute to an already worrisome flood season ahead.

General storm track Sunday-Wednesday

Although some lighter snow may fall as early as Monday in the Plains, the main core of this snowstorm will get going by Tuesday and shift northeastward through Wednesday. Snow is indicated by the white shading on the Tuesday and Wednesday forecast maps below.

Tuesday's forecast

How much snow are we talking about here? Accumulations of at least 6 to 12 inches (locally higher) are possible in the storm's sweet spot which will all depend on the exact path of the area of low pressure. Right now, this appears to run from the Front Range of Wyoming and northeast Colorado to portions of South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and northern Wisconsin. This includes the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area.

Another aspect of this storm will be the intensifying area of low pressure, which in combination with high pressure to its north and west, will crank up the wind machine over the region. This will lead to blowing snow and possible near-blizzard or blizzard conditions in some locations.

How much wind there is and whether blizzard conditions materialize will be dependent on how strong the low-pressure system becomes.

Read story: What qualifies as a blizzard?

Wednesday's forecast

This storm will pass right through a portion of the country which could be tabbed as "blizzard alley" based on a recent study. Next, we will take a look at this U.S. blizzard magnet in depth.

Next>The nation's "blizzard alley"

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