A Messy Morning Rush on Friday?

The final morning rush hour of 2011 might be a memorable one.

The National Weather Service has issued a snowy Hazardous Weather Outlook for Inver Grove Heights and the rest of the Twin Cities metropolitan area for Thursday night and Friday morning.

And as many commuters can tell you, a little bit of early-morning snow can make the morning rush hour last a lot longer than normal.

A low pressure system is expected to produce mixed freezing rain and snow during the evening, then to all snow overnight and Friday morning. Snow could accumulate up to two inches, according to the NWS office in Chanhassen.

Meteorologist Paul Douglas, in his weather blog on Startribune.com Thursday morning, says the Twin Cities area could get between one and three inches of slushy snow tonight.

“We may wake up to a very slow commute Friday morning,” Douglas says in his blog.

KSTP meteorologist Patrick Hammer, on KSTP.com Thursday evening, is predicting one to 1.5 inches of snow Thursday night.

The short blast of snow is coming a week too late for those of us wanting a white Christmas, but promises to make Inver Grove Heights look more winter-like for at least one day during holiday week.

If we do receive snow overnight tonight, it might not be around for long. The predicted high temperature for Saturday is 40 degree, says the NWS office in Chanhassen. Colder weather is expected to move into the metro Saturday night, though.

Inver Grove Heights and the rest of the Twin Cities are well below normal for snowfall this season, according to Thursday's NWS's climatological report. Through Thursday morning, the metro has received 8.6 inches of snow, which is 12.1 inches below normal. For December, the metro has recorded 5.6 inches of snow, 5.2 inches below normal.

Looking back to Dec. 29 of last year, the metro had already been clobbered with 43.2 inches of snow, with all but about 10 inches of it falling in December.

For the updated NWS forecast for Inver Grove Heights, click here.