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Weather and Climate News
Andrew Krueger
Updated:

Blizzard warnings, school closings Wednesday across parts of southern Minnesota

Cars travel on the highway.
Blowing snow impedes traffic on East Circle Drive in Rochester on March 5. Another winter storm has prompted blizzard warnings across much of southern Minnesota — including Rochester — for Wednesday.
Ken Klotzbach for MPR News

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A spring storm is forecast to bring blizzard conditions to a swath of southern Minnesota on Wednesday — and ahead of that, some school districts are canceling classes or moving to online learning.

Rochester Public Schools is among the districts that will be closed Wednesday. Austin and Owatonna are among the districts moving to online learning. Find a complete list below.

Blizzard warnings run from early Wednesday morning through Wednesday night from Jackson east to Albert Lea, Owatonna, Preston, Rochester and Wabasha.

The National Weather Service says those areas may see 4 to 8 inches of snow, along with northwest winds gusting to more than 50 miles per hour. That combination could lead to whiteout conditions at times.

Winter storm warnings extend from Winona into western Wisconsin, where snowfall may also exceed a half-foot — but winds may not be as strong.

To the north and south of the blizzard and winter storm warnings, winter weather advisories are in place for Wednesday. That includes Worthington, Mankato and the southern Twin Cities metro area, where several inches of snow are possible.

The north metro may see little if any snow accumulation.

While large parts of Minnesota saw few storms and well-below-normal snowfall for much of the winter, March has been a lot more active. Wednesday’s storm will hit exactly two weeks after another weather system brought more than a foot of snow to parts of southern Minnesota.

School delays, closings for March 19

Closed

  • Chatfield

  • Fairmont Area

  • Granada-Huntley-East Chain

  • Hayfield

  • Kasson-Mantorville

  • LeRoy-Ostrander

  • Rochester

  • Rushford-Peterson

  • Southland

E-learning day

  • Alden-Conger

  • Austin

  • Blooming Prairie

  • Ellsworth, Wis.

  • Fillmore Central

  • Grand Meadow

  • Jackson County Central

  • Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton

  • Kingsland

  • Lyle

  • Martin County West

  • Medford

  • New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva

  • Nicollet

  • Owatonna

  • Pine Island

  • Plainview-Elgin-Millville

  • Riverland Community College — Albert Lea, Austin and Owatonna campuses

  • St. Clair

  • Stewartville

  • Triton

  • United South Central

  • Waseca

  • Zumbrota-Mazeppa

This list will be updated as additional closings and delays are reported.

Forecast updates

Travel conditions

These state transportation departments offer live updates on road conditions and crashes:

For bus and light rail riders in the Twin Cities, Metro Transit offers weather-related updates on its Metro Transit and Metro Transit Alerts Twitter pages and on its website.

Flight updates

If you’re planning to fly from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport or another airport around the region — or if you are expecting visitors to arrive by plane — airports offer flight status updates online: