Strong winds and a few pockets of heavy snow will create blizzard conditions in portions of the Upper Midwest tonight into Wednesday morning. A Blizzard Warning has been issued in the Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota. 3″ to 6″ of snow with 40 mph wind gusts will produce near whiteout conditions in open areas. Winter Storm Warning extend from near Omaha to Marquette, where a narrow band of heavy snow will fall with accumulations up to 8″.
Blizzard conditions will occur late this PM & tonight in open country in the northern River Valley. Dangerous travel conditions expected. pic.twitter.com/VM3lFFWfQN
— NWS Grand Forks (@NWSGrandForks) January 10, 2018
The strong low is expected to intensify as it moves out of Colorado this evening, pushing into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan Thursday night. The fast moving system won’t have much time to deposit widespread, significant snowfall accumulations, but wind is expected to be the biggest concern. The system will likely produce gusts as high as 40 mph. This will create significant blowing and drifting snow, reducing visibility, especially in open country. Blizzard conditions are possible in some areas, especially the near the Red River. Travel will likely become extremely difficult, if not impossible
For WeatherNation: Meteorologist Mace Michaels