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Snow Slowing Traffic, Crippling The Metro & Greater MN

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Well, there's always May, right? Another dose of heavy, wet snow is blanketing much of Minnesota, where residents have been understandably anxious to see any tangible signs of spring weather.

WCCO director of meteorology Mike Augustyniak said that practically all of the state has the potential to see some flakes between Thursday and Friday mornings as the inches are starting to accumulate around the metro.

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The evening commute is already off to a slow start, as the Twin Cities stands to get anywhere from 3 to 6 inches of snow, whereas the greater part of western and central Minnesota could see from 4 to 8 inches. The Duluth area and the North Shore could get up to a foot.

The City of Minneapolis has already switched from street sweeping to snow and ice control, and will be out until Friday. Metro Transit said that as of 5:30 p.m., 37 percent of buses are operating on time and the average delay is five minutes. The Light Rail and the Northstar are on schedule.

Some cities around the metro, including Plymouth and Bloomington, are declaring snow emergencies. Click here to see if your city has declared an emergency.

At Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, delays for arrivals are averaging nearly two hours, while departures are being delayed by about 45 minutes.

Snow Forecast April 18 2013
(credit: CBS)

Augustyniak said Friday should be windy with highs in the low 40s in the Twin Cities.

Next week is expected to bring more of the type of weather Minnesotans have gotten all too familiar with over the past few months. More rain and possible snow is expected early next week, and highs are not expected to exceed the 40s.

Anyone looking for a silver lining can at least look to the NOAA three-month outlook temperature probability for May, June and July. The NOAA projects good chances for much of the area directly to our south to have above average temperatures during that time period, though Minnesota shows an equal chance for above, below and at average temperatures.

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