Almost a Foot of Snow Hits Sections of Southern Mn

The storm system that dumped close to a foot of snow on parts of southern Minnesota Wednesday is forecast to be followed by a brief blast of arctic air on Thanksgiving Day.

The storm system produced a narrow band of heavy snow across sections of south-central and southeastern Minnesota. The snowfall totals ranged from 11 inches near Faribault to over 9 inches south of Mankato and about 8.5 inches near Fairmont. Outside of that band, the totals were much lower and most areas reported 1 to 3 inches of accumulation.

Even that was enough to create slick conditions on roadways throughout the region, which contributed to dozens of crashes and vehicle spin-outs in southeast Minnesota. Through 4 p.m., the State Patrol says it received almost 400 reports of weather-related crashes throughout the state.

The mercury is forecast to fall near zero Thursday morning, and only climb to around 10-degrees in the afternoon.