(UPDATE) Snow, Wind to Open the New Year, But Not as Much as First Predicted

(UPDATE, 10:30 p.m. Saturday)

A storm no more.

Saturday night, the National Weather Service in Chanhassen downgraded the weather system expected to affect Inver Grove Heights and the rest of the Twin Cities metropolitan area from a Winter Storm Warning to a Winter Weather Advisory.

The weather bulletin released by the NWS at 8:54 p.m. says the heavy snow predicted to fall in the Twin Cities metro is instead expected to hit southern Minnesota, along the Interstate 90 corridor.

One or two inches of snow could fall in Inver Grove Heights and neighboring cities before ending around 1 a.m., the NWS bulletin says.

The Wind Advisory covering the Twin Cities metro that was issued Saturday morning still will be in effect from 6 a.m. to midnight Sunday.

To view the NWS bulletin, click here.

(ORIGINAL STORY, posted at 10 a.m. Saturday) 

Old Man Winter appears ready to ring in the New Year with snow and wind.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for Inver Grove Heights and the rest of the Twin Cities metropolitan area for later tonight and tomorrow.

In what the NWS is calling “the first widespread winter weather event of the season,” Inver Grove Heights is expected to receive between three and five inches of snow between 9 p.m. tonight and 6 a.m. Sunday.

But that’s not the best part. A Wind Advisory has been issued for the area and will be in effect from 6 a.m. to midnight Sunday. The NWS says the snow we get overnight tonight will be blown around by northwest winds gusting to between 30 and 35 miles per hour.

What a way to start the New Year!

For today, the NWS is forecasting a 30 percent chance of rain, mainly after 3 p.m., and a high of 42. The temperatures will turn colder this evening, which precipitation turning to all snow by the storm warning takes effect at 9 o’clock.

Sunday’s night is predicted to reach 27, with a low of 11 tomorrow night.

For updates on Inver Grove’s forecast, click here.