Storm Xanto is going to disappoint residents of the Upper Midwest and other locales longing for spring. Forecasters expect the storm to dump up to a foot of snow along with ice and cold rain starting over the weekend.
The National Weather Service in Duluth, Minnesota, issued a gale watch Friday evening through late Saturday night for high winds expected on western Lake Superior. Winds could gust up to 52 mph, and waves could swell to 14 feet.
A vast swath of the Upper Midwest and Plains states, stretching from western South Dakota to western Wisconsin and reaching into Nebraska, is under blizzard or winter storm warnings or a winter storm watch. Forecasters say parts of Minnesota could see strong, gusty winds of up to 50 mph, while some areas of Nebraska near the South Dakota border could receive up to 17 inches of snow.
Meteorologist Michelle Margraf at the Twin Cities weather service said rain Friday over southern Minnesota is expected to change to snow as temperatures drop. Snow should taper off by late Saturday morning, she said.
Margraf said the central U.S. is stuck in a cold pattern due to high pressure sitting just off the East Coast.
And while the unseasonable cold probably will linger another two weeks, Margraf said, the April sun has more power to melt snow — if the sun comes out.
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