Blizzard warnings, school closings Wednesday across parts of southern Minnesota

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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.
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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
MPR News: Live weather blog and real-time radar
National Weather Service: Snowfall reports
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: