Another Round Of Wintry Weather In Minn./Wis.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) — Hearty Midwesterners know better than to put the snow shovels and snow blowers away in April.

Relentless wintry weather returns Monday with 6 to 9 inches of snow forecast for south central Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning through 1 a.m. Tuesday. Forecasters expected snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour.

In the heavier snow bands, visibility may be reduced to less than a quarter mile. Travel conditions are expected to rapidly deteriorate by Monday night.

There are reasons for frustrations in Minnesota.

So far, this is the second coolest Minnesota April on record and the fourth snowiest. By weeks end could it could be the snowiest ever. The warmest temperature we've seen was in March, one fleeting 56 degree day.

Augsberg College Associate Professor John Zobitz studies math and how it relates to climates.

"We've definitely seen a later emergence time for different plant and animal species coming back. It's been colder all across the US so migratory birds haven't arrived as soon as we had hoped. And there hasn't been much food for them to eat here, too," Zobitz said.

Zobitz said the lack of buds and birds and influx of snow are, by the numbers, odd.

However, with 60s on the horizon, we could see the season we've been waiting for spring up.

"I think we could. It's also going to be later than normal but it's also going to be a normal spring if we have average temperatures from here on out," Zobitz said.

Maybe the bad word will be gone for good or at least until the fall.

Zobitz said plants warm up in thermal degrees which takes a while, so even if it warms up this weekend, don't expect to see the green popping up on roadways like this just yet.

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