Snowstorm Creates Dangerous Travel Conditions

Blowing snow has created dangerous travel conditions across southern Minnesota and Iowa.The Rochester area has been included in a winter weather advisory that covers far southern Minnesota through 9 PM on Sunday. The entire state of Iowa, along with parts of southern Wisconsin are under a winter storm warning.

The snow that fell Saturday night and Sunday is being blown around by strong northwest winds gusting to around 35 mph, which could create occasional whiteout conditions in open areas.

The snowfall totals in the Rochester have mainly been in the 2 to 3 inch range, although almost 3.5-inches was reported near the Rochester Airport. Over a half a foot of snow has been reported in northeastern Iowa, and forecasters say some areas in Iowa could end up with around a foot of new snow.

Arctic air is being pulled into the region by the storm system and the mercury is predicted to dip below zero by Monday morning with windchill readings in the teens below zero.