Wind chill advisory issued for southwest Minnesota

• Icy morning

File Photo: Bounkong Thepmontry, Worthington, chips away at his ice-covered windshield. In November, thick, hard layer of ice on area roadways was a determining factor in the cancelation of schools and Veterans Day programs throughout the area.

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7 p.m. Update

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A wind chill advisory has been issued for Murray, Cottonwood, Pipestone Nobles, Jackson and Rock Counties, to begin at 1 a.m. and end at noon Wednesday.

The winter weather advisory issued earlier is still set to expire for Murray, Cottonwood and Pipestone counties at 1 a.m. Wednesday.

Cold air will continue to filter south on a strong northwest wind, creating wind chill values of 20 to 25 below zero. The coldest wind chill values will be from about 4 a.m. to 9 a.m.

A wind chill advisory is issued when a strong wind will combine with cold temperatures to create dangerously cold conditions for exposed skin. The wind will make it feel like it is 20 degrees below zero or colder for a period of several hours.

Anyone planning to go outdoors should dress warmly, making sure that all exposed skin is covered.

9:27 a.m. Tuesday

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The National Weather Service urged motorists to use caution when traveling today and issued a winter weather advisory for counties in southwest Minnesota including Murray, Cottonwood and Pipestone counties.

The advisory is set to expire at 1 a.m. Wednesday.

A low pressure system over eastern Kansas early this morning will lift across southeast Iowa into Wisconsin by evening. A strong upper level wave associated with the system will move across the northern plains today, producing a broad area of moderate to heavy snow, along with increasing northerly winds and cold temperatures.

Ongoing snow across the western plains will spread into the area this morning, with the heaviest snowfall lifting north of Interstate 90 during the afternoon.

Mid-level moisture ahead of the wave appears to be more limited than earlier expected, which will reduce snowfall amounts across the area. By late evening, about one inch of snow is expected through the Interstate 90 corridor, with less than an inch expected from the lower Missouri River valley into most of northwest Iowa.

Northerly winds will increase to 25 to 35 miles per hour by early afternoon, causing widespread blowing snow and low visibility in the areas receiving heavier snowfall today. The strong winds will also combine with below normal temperatures to produce wind chills from 10 below to 20 below zero by this evening.

Freezing rain, sleet and snow will move through the area and become widespread through the afternoon and early evening before tapering off toward midnight.

A light icing of around five hundredths to a tenth of an inch will be possible before 10 a.m.

Tags: news, winter, weather, windchill