Plowable snow Friday, with a slow afternoon-evening commute

March is our third snowiest month of the year in the Twin Cities, so it's no surprise when we get some March snow.

This March 1 snow is annoying to those of us who are still recovering from February's snow blitz!

Big picture

Snow moved into southwestern Minnesota early Friday morning, and it's expected to spread into the Twin Cities metro area by 10 or 11 a.m. and continue through the afternoon. Snow tapers off early in the evening.

Slippery roads and reduced visibility will cause a slow late afternoon-evening commute.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential snow pattern from Friday morning through Friday evening:

There's expected to be a swath of 3- to 4-inch snow accumulations that includes the Twin Cities metro area:

A few spots could see 5 inches of snow by evening.

Parts of western Minnesota are already in a winter weather advisory. It starts at 9 a.m. in the Twin Cities and at noon in western Wisconsin:

Details of the metro area advisory:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN

258 AM CST Fri Mar 1 2019

...ACCUMULATING SNOW TODAY INTO THIS EVENING...

.Light to occasionally moderate snow will spread across Minnesota

and Wisconsin today. Accumulations of 3 to 4 inches are expected.

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for much of central and

southern Minnesota and west central Wisconsin. Plan on slippery

road conditions for the evening commute.

MNZ050>053-059>063-066>070-074>077-082>085-011800-

/O.CON.KMPX.WW.Y.0021.190301T1500Z-190302T0300Z/

Benton-Sherburne-Isanti-Chisago-Wright-Hennepin-Anoka-Ramsey-

Washington-McLeod-Sibley-Carver-Scott-Dakota-Brown-Nicollet-

Le Sueur-Rice-Watonwan-Blue Earth-Waseca-Steele-

Including the cities of Foley, Elk River, Cambridge, Center City,

Monticello, Minneapolis, Blaine, St Paul, Stillwater, Hutchinson,

Gaylord, Chaska, Shakopee, Hastings, New Ulm, St Peter, Le Sueur,

Faribault, St James, Mankato, Waseca, and Owatonna

258 AM CST Fri Mar 1 2019

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS

MORNING TO 9 PM CST THIS EVENING...

* WHAT...Snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 3 to 4

inches expected.

* WHERE...Portions of central, east central and south central

Minnesota.

* WHEN...From 9 AM to 9 PM CST Friday.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The

hazardous conditions could impact the evening commute.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Winter Weather Advisory for snow means periods of snow will

cause primarily travel difficulties. Expect snow covered roads

and limited visibilities, and use caution while driving.

The latest road conditions for Minnesota can be found at

511mn.org and for Wisconsin at 511wi.gov, or by calling 5 1 1 in

either state.

As always, updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and you’ll also see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

You can check the latest forecasts from the NWS offices in the Twin Cities, Grand Forks, N.D., Sioux Falls, S.D., La Crosse, Wis., and Duluth.

A full Updraft update will be published around midmorning.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:49 a.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.