Winter storm warning goes into effect Sunday morning
Mar. 23—DULUTH — It may be nearly Easter, but the Northland finds itself in the crosshairs of the season's first widespread major snowstorm.
On Saturday, the National Weather Service's Duluth bureau declared a winter storm warning for all of northern Wisconsin, northeast and north central Minnesota. The warning goes into effect at 10 a.m. Sunday and lasts through 7 p.m. Tuesday.
In addition, a blizzard warning has been issued for the North Shore, including the cities of Two Harbors, Silver Bay and Grand Marais, from 1 p.m. Sunday to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Blizzard conditions are also possible in areas of southern St. Louis County away from Lake Superior.
Travel conditions are expected to be treacherous throughout the region from Sunday to Tuesday.
Heavy snow and strong winds are expected to arrive in the Northland Sunday afternoon and persist overnight. NWS estimates a storm total of 14-19 inches in Duluth from the system, though strong winds and an influx of mixed precipitation are expected to complicate measurement. Warm air pushing off Lake Superior is expected to mitigate snowfall amounts at lower elevations close to the lake.
Forecasted snow totals are expected to be slightly less in northern Wisconsin and the Iron Range.
Enough warm air is expected to flow into the area after noon on Monday that the Twin Ports region may see mixed precipitation, including freezing drizzle.
As of late February
, Duluth had seen less than 19 inches of snowfall for the season. Average is 70 and last year, the snowiest winter on local record, was 93.
