By Zac Chapman / Assistant News Director

Cold rain is expected to fall this afternoon across the St. Cloud area with a chance of snow to follow later in the evening.

St. Cloud State Meteorology Professor Bob Weisman reports the snow accumulations expected aren’t huge, with a possibility of 1-3 inches in St. Cloud, but the strong winds expected late tonight into tomorrow morning will cause low visibility if the snow is fluffy enough to blow.

There is a small chance of some localized flooding over snow covered areas, especially when drains are underneath.

The National Weather Service has a blizzard warning across part of the Red River Valley, including much of northwestern Minnesota, where near zero visibility could occur if the snow is dry enough.

There is a winter weather advisory for the rest of west central, northwestern, and north central Minnesota where between 2 and 5 inches of snow are possible.

A more detailed upcoming forecast can be found at https://www.stcloudstate.edu/weather/default.aspx.