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Snow plows and shovels are getting a hard workout early this week across the Upper Midwest. The first winter storm of the season is socking the Dakotas to western Great Lakes with several inches of snow and doesn`t show signs of moving out in a hurry.
Winter Weather Advisories are slowly ending in Nebraska, including Broken Bow and Valentine, Neb., and will continue in Ely and Duluth, Minn. through Wednesday morning. An additional 1 to 3 inches of snow will fall on top of the 2 to 8 inches that have already accumulated today.
The problem is the snow won`t end tonight but stick around through Wednesday. Low pressure in southern Minnesota is cut-off from the main jet stream flow, so it will sit and spin through midweek. Around its periphery, moisture will be squeezed out as very light snow or flurries Wednesday throughout the Great Lakes. The low pressure will finally push into the eastern Great Lakes Wednesday evening, allowing skies to clear from the northern and central Plains to the Upper Mississippi Valley.
While nighttime lows drop into the teens and 20s, sunshine will warm temperatures above freezing following the winter storm`s departure. Therefore, melting will take place during the day but refreezing of the snow could cause slippery spots on secondary roads, bridges and overpasses along Interstates 29, 35, 80, 90, and 94.
A quiet weather pattern returning with high pressure becoming nestled into the nation`s midsection will allow a streak of sunny days to eventually melt the snow by early next week.
The snow is right on cue with the start of Meteorological Winter in the Northern Tier. Aberdeen, S.D., typically gets 7 inches of snow in November and the same amount in December. The 2.5 to 5 inches that blanketed Minneapolis will help to bring two-month totals closer to the 15 to 20 inches of average accumulation from early November to late December.