Winter storm update

***MAJOR WINTER STORM UPDATE***...Updated at 7:30 PM




Looking at the latest computer model runs...Will time snow to start sooner than forecasted..Looking to start the snow mid morning Tuesday across my Southern areas then around noon in my Central areas then around 1 or 2 in my Northern areas.....Snow accumulations for Tuesday look to be around and inch maybe two....Winds will still not a problem,Tuesday night snow will become heavy at times...With winds increasing 10 to 20 MPH with higher gust...This will lead to blowing and drifting snow....Wednesday..Snow heavy at times,winds should be howling out of N/NW around 20 MPH with gusts up to 35 MPH some of the wind prone areas could see wind gusts 40 to 45 MPH..This will lead to more blowing and drifting snow...Some areas could see near 0 vis with near to blizzard conditions Tuesday night through much of the day Wednesday....Will keep thinking the same.... Will run with a widespread 6 to 9 inches of snow through out the whole forecast area....Places that could see 9 to 12 inches or slightly more are in two different areas...First one would run through ST.Croix County over to Dunn County and into Chippewa County....Or South of line from New Richmond to Wheeler to around the Chippewa Falls area.....The second area likely to see 9 to 12 or slightly more inches are Barron,Polk,Sawyer,and Washburn Counties....Or points north of a line from Luck to Cumberland,Rice Lake over to Ladysmith.Most of the heavy snow should fall from late Tuesday night through around the noon hour on Wednesday...One big player on the forecasted snowfall amounts will be if any thunderstorms get going down South..If so this should rob some of the moisture flow Northwards,hence lowering the snowfall amounts....So some concerns still remain if severe thunderstorms will blow up.....



Travel could become very difficult or impossible late Tuesday night through much of the day on Wednesday..If you plan to travel make sure you have a winter safety kit in your vehicle...If you plan on traveling make sure you let someone know when you leave point A and your ETA to point B....Have a cell phone to call for help if you should become stuck...Do not try to walk to get help,your vehicle will be your best shelter....This could be dangerous winter storm...Best advise we can give you only travel if it is an emergency....



Temps will fall like a rock as an Arctic cold front slams through the area...Look for lows to be well below zero for the remainder of the work week,with highs in the single digits to around 10 or so..This trend will last through the weekend...So looks like winter is going to be around for sometime...