Winter Storm Xenia Forecast: Blizzard Striking North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota

By: Jon Erdman and Nick Wiltgen

Published: March 31,2014

 

 

 

 

• Region affected: Northern Plains and parts of Upper Midwest

• Timing: Now through Tuesday

• Blizzard conditions ongoing

Winter Alerts

48-Hour Snowfall Forecast

Monday Night Forecast

Tuesday Forecast

Winter Storm Xenia continues to rage across the Northern Plains with high winds and heavy snow, sending March out with a roar especially in the Dakotas and parts of Minnesota. Blizzard warnings continue for parts of the region as the storm continues.
Tornadoes were reported Monday afternoon in the warm air immediately ahead of the cold front associated with Xenia. Click here for more on the severe weather threat.
Here are the details on the rest of Xenia's path.

Timing

• Monday night: Snow ends from west to east in the Dakotas, but persists in northern Minnesota and expands into western Minnesota. A thin band of freezing rain is possible in parts of central and northern Minnesota. Rain may change to freezing rain or sleet, then snow in eastern Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin by dawn, including the Twin Cities.
• Tuesday: Lingering snow and some wind, diminishing late in the day in parts of the northern Great Lakes.

Snow, wind impacts

• Snowfall: Storm total accumulations of over a foot possible in parts of North Dakota and northwest Minnesota.
• Ice potential: A narrow zone in parts of central, north-central and northeast Minnesota may see a brief period of sleet and freezing rain. Ice accumulations are not expected to be significant.
• Blizzard potential: The combination of high pressure over the Canadian Prairies and moderately strong low pressure tracking from the Corn Belt to the Great Lakes will continue to produce blizzard or near-blizzard conditions in a large swath of the Dakotas and parts of west-central and northwest Minnesota into Monday night and possibly early Tuesday.
• Wind chills: Subzero wind chills are likely across much of the Dakotas and northern Minnesota Monday night into Tuesday morning. While not at all unusual for this part of the country in winter, it is now unusually late in the season to be seeing such bitter wind chills – remember to take the same common-sense measures to protect yourself from the cold as you would in mid-winter.
• Travel impact: Road closures have occurred along stretches of I-29, I-94 and I-90 in the Dakotas and may expand into western Minnesota Monday and Monday night, possibly into early Tuesday. Secondary roads are or will become impassable due to blowing and drifting snow. Check our Commuter Forecast map for weather and traffic conditions on the road.
• Road conditions and closures: South Dakota | North Dakota | Minnesota
• Cities: Aberdeen, S.D. | Duluth, Minn. | Fargo, N.D. | Grand Forks, N.D. | Rapid City, S.D.

(MORE: 10 Cities Winter Spared | 10 Worst Winter Cities)
Check back with weather.com and The Weather Channel for the latest on Winter Storm Xenia.

MORE: Winter Storm Xerxes, April 2013 (Last Season's "X" Storm)

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Dalton, Minn.

A car is almost completely covered up by snowfall from Winter Storm Xerxes on Monday, April 15, 2013. (Facebook/Debbie Kaminski)