Two seasons in one day: Signs of spring arrive, but so does wet snow
A few signs of spring's arrival were visible in Minnesota today, but winter is not over just yet.
One sure sign that's eagerly welcomed each year is the opening of the shipping season in the Twin Ports of Duluth-Superior.
This year's season officially got underway Monday evening as the freighter John G. Munson (pictured above) headed out of the harbor carrying a load of taconite that's destined for Gary, Ind., the Duluth News Tribune reports.
Here's a time-lapse video showing the Munson's departure, courtesy of DuluthHarborCam.com.
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Another spring sentinel is the ice out on Minnesota's lakes, which typically gets underway in the southern part of the state first.
The DNR's ice-out map, shown in the tweet above, marks the lakes that have open water with the light brown pins. See the complete map here.
Unfortunately, we'll see a bit more winter-like weather before spring temperatures return for the weekend.
A wintry mix of rain and snow is moving through Minnesota Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, bringing a couple of inches of wet, slushy precipitation to a big swath of the state.
According to KSTP meteorologist Jonathan Yuhas, areas from Red Wing to Rochester and near Mankato could get 1-4 inches of snow through Wednesday morning. The Twin Cities metro area will likely see 1-2 inches.
Driving conditions will deteriorate as the system moves through, and a winter weather advisory is in effect from 10 p.m. Tuesday until 7 a.m. Wednesday.
We'll see high temperatures around 40 degrees for the rest of the week, and a warmup will bring us close to 60 by early next week.
