Minneapolis, parts of the Upper Midwest are waiting for the biggest snowfall of the season so far

A developing storm system is expected to bring a band of heavy snow from the Dakotas through Minnesota and Wisconsin on Thursday.

MINNEAPOLIS – A developing storm system is expected to bring the heaviest snowfall of the season to places like Minnesota and Wisconsin on Thursday, leading to some treacherous travel to end the work week.

Forecast models show a widespread band of 3 to 6 inches of snow north of Interstate 94 stretching from the Dakotas through Wisconsin, with some accumulation gauges potentially reaching 8-9 inches as wintry weather moves out of the region late Thursday night.

Because of the threat from the frozen precipitation, 10 million residents are under either a winter weather warning or a winter storm warning, issued by local National Weather Service offices. Both morning and evening commutes on Thursday could be treacherous, with snowfall rates of more than 1 inch per hour.

“So it’s a nice little shot of snow, something they haven’t seen in Minneapolis,” FOX Weather meteorologist Bob Van Dillen said. “So we have winter weather advisories that have just been upgraded to winter storm warnings.”

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As the snowfall ends, a cold front is expected to kick up wind gusts to reach 50 mph across the Plains, with communities in the Upper Midwest likely to see winds in the 30-40 mph range.

These strong winds will lead to blowing snow, potentially causing further travel difficulties on roads and at airports.

Hundreds of personnel are typically on standby from October through April to respond to frozen precipitation and keep planes flying in and out of Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport with minimal disruption.

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The rapid snowfall event is expected to mark the largest accumulation so far this season for cities like Minneapolis and Green Bay.

Since the meteorological winter began on Dec. 1, the Twin Cities have reported just 1.3″ of snowfall, nearly a foot below average. Meanwhile, Green Bay has reported just 1.1″ in the same time period.

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High temperatures are only expected to reach the single digits and teens on Friday and Saturday before warming up during Christmas week during what could be one of the warmest holiday weeks America has ever seen.

Forecasters expect temperatures to rise 15-25 degrees above average across the region over the holiday week, potentially challenging records set just a year ago.

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