Snow to return for northern Plains, Great Lakes before midweek

By Courtney Spamer, AccuWeather meteorologist

Updated Jan. 14, 2020 3:39 AM

Following the expansive storm that brought severe weather and ice across the country over the weekend, several quick-hitting storms have brought snow back to the northern tier of the U.S. this week.

Snow first developed in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa Sunday afternoon before spreading into Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan during the evening and overnight. A general 2-4 inches of snow with locally higher amounts fell along this swath.

In Kansas, Lawrence Police warned motorists that road conditions had already begun to deteriorate by 6 p.m. CST with multiple calls about crashes on I-70 westbound flooded the department.

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"While a few inches of snow is not a major storm for these areas, this will help the weather trend back towards winter, which has really been lacking since early December," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Matt Benz.

Since the start of 2020, Rochester and Minneapolis, Minnesota, have been running more than 6 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. The average temperature in La Crosse, Wisconsin, is running more than 9 degrees above normal so far this year.

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A second wave of wintry weather swept through North Dakota, Minnesota, northeastern Iowa and Wisconsin on Monday night.

The snow will press into southern Ontario, Canada by midday on Tuesday.

Roadways were slick across a large portion of Minnesota as the snow moved through.

A look at roadway conditions across Minnesota as snow swept through the area on Monday night. (Minnesota DOT)

The second wave of snow will open the door for colder air to filter into the northern Plains and Great Lakes. By Tuesday night, lows will be back down into the single digits and teens across the region.

In addition to the cold, a final quick burst of moderate to heavy snow will be possible across the same region on Wednesday. Snow amounts once again will be on the order of a couple of inches from the eastern Dakotas to northwestern Michigan.

As this storm encounters the mountains over the northern tier of the Northeast, a foot of snow can fall on parts of northeastern New York state and the northern parts of Vermont and New Hampshire Wednesday night to early Thursday.

Looking to the end of the week, the same storm that is expected to bring falling snow levels in the Pacific Northwest at midweek will emerge into the Plains. More snow and a wintry mix are forecast to reach the Upper Midwest before the weekend.

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