blizzard pt 2 for bri

Up./// welcome back?

"*?

"* our covera a blizzard continues.

Kimt stormteam 3 chief meteorloigist aaron white joins us now.

Aaron just how much snow are you tracking?

A blizzard warning will go into effect starting at 3pm today through early thursday morning for the majority of the area.

Plan for very difficult travel conditions through the evening hours and into the overnight.

Accumulations of snow will be greatest to the north and west of a line from mason city to rochester.

Expecting 1?

"*4" in the rochester and mason city areas, upwards of 4 inches to the northwest of this line including owatonna and albert lea.

Lesser accumulation around an inch is expected further to the south and east of that line.

Temperatures will continue to drop rapidly through the evening hours with overnight lows falling below the zero mark.

Wind chills will likely range from ?

"*10 to ?

"*25 heading into christmas ee as strong northwestern winds will continue to move through.

Highs on thursday will remain in the single digits.

Christmas day itself is still looking cold, but sunny, with highs near 20.

Kimt stormteam 3 meteorologist sean macaday is on the streets in stormtracker.

He joins us now live for a look at the current road conditions.

Sean how is it out there?

A blizzard warning will go into effect starting at 3pm today through early thursday morning for the majority of the area.

Plan for very difficult travel conditions through the evening hours and into the overnight.

Accumulations of snow will be greatest to the north and west of a line from mason city to rochester.

Expecting 1?

"*4" in the rochester and mason city areas, upwards of 4 inches to the northwest of this line including owatonna and albert lea.

Lesser accumulation around an inch is expected further to the south and east of that line.

Temperatures will continue to drop rapidly through the evening hours with overnight lows falling below the zero mark.

Wind chills will likely range from ?

"*10 to ?

"*25 heading into christmas ee as strong northwestern winds will continue to move through.

Highs on thursday will remain in the single digits.

Christmas day itself is still looking cold, but sunny, with highs near 20.

Thanks sean.

Be safe out there.

We'll continue to track current road conditions throughout this newscast.

So be sure to stay with us for the very latest./// hwy 52 live eye while a shovel, snowblower and some salt might be enough to clear your driveway following this wintry weather... that's not the case for minnesota department of transporation.

... they have a much bigger task at hand.

Katie ?

"*?

"* ?

"(talk about see on highway 52?

"( the minnesota department of transportatio n is busy across district 6... which covers southeastern minnesota.

101 snowplows are set to be out on area roadways... the video you're looking at now ?

"* is from winters past... over the last 24 hours though ?

"* crews have been busy preparing snow plows... getting blades on and doing last?

"*minute mechanical checks to make sure everthing is operating the way it should.

Crews have been out since 7 o'clock this morning pre treating highway ramps.

The biggest challenge for drivers is going to be the low visibility this evening... as the winds pick up and the flakes fall.

Even once the snow subsides ?

"* tomorrow will also be a challenge for drivers ?

"* with frigid temperatures.

Mndot officials say if temperatures are less than 20?

"*degrees... "think about a highway and the hundreds and thousands times vehicles are packing that snow down, that can bond to the pavement, and it's more difficult to remove, as it gets colder."

Mndot urgers drivers to think about the need for travel ?

"*?

"* check conditions, leave earlier, and plan to arrive later.

And they urge you to keep an eye out for snow plows.

Thanks sam.

For the latest weather conditions download the kimt news 3 stormtracker weather app ?

"* ?

"* it's free also have a link available to the minnesota department of transportatio n road conditions and crash alerts... at kimt.com.

Here's a live look at a map on minnesota department of transportatio n's website.

You can see the highways west of rochester are red that means they are closed.

Right now the highways in rochester are blue meaning they're partially covered.

As the snow starts to come down you'll want to take things slowly and stay home.

A blizzard warning went into effect across much of the area an hour or so ago... from sand to salt to shovels... did you get all the gear you needed to be prepared?

Kimt news three's mary peters is live in rochester ... mary you stopped in at a local hardware store today before the storm hit... katie ?

"* i swung in to arrow hardware and paint... the store manager told me ?

"* it'sa staple in the midwest... having a good shovel... like this one.

As far as business ?*- i'm told it has been slow so far because of the warm weather ?

"* ?

"* but the store manager expects that to change with the first major storm of the season.

From shovels ?

"* to ice melt ?

"* deb prudoehl (pru?

"*de?

"*oh) says it's wis have some in your car in case you get in a bind.

She says typically the first thing to fly off shelves we're starting to see a lot of people come in and pick up their ice melt, a few shovels have started going out.

So it's going to depend a little bit on what the storm does.

I was only in the store a short time this morning... but three people came in to purchase a shovel.

.... and i don't think those people will regret that decision.

Live in rochester?

"* mary peters thanks, mary.

The centers for disease control and prevention recommends having a winter emergency kit in your car... some of the things they recommend include extra coats, mittens, blankets... a flashlight, extra batteries... food, and a bag of cat littler for traction, if you'd get stuck.

For a full list ?

"* head to kimt dot com and look for this story under the local news tab.

The government announcing a new deal today securing another 100?

"* million doses of the covid?

"*19 vaccine... and dr. fauci saying life could return to normal by next summer./// are you looking to adopt a four legged friend?

We'll introduce you to these guys and tell you how you can safely make them a part of