Winter Storm Astro Forecast Update: Heavy Snow, Strong Winds To Hammer South Dakota, Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin, Michigan, Including Minneapolis/St. Paul

Winter Storm Astro has begun, and by the time it winds down early Wednesday, it will have put down a swath of heavy snow from Montana to Michigan.

Accompanying a potent November arctic outbreak, the season's first significant snow is arriving in parts of the Plains and Midwest.

Winter Storm Astro dumped the season's first snow in Bismarck, North Dakota Sunday, with 3.2 inches measured at the National Weather Service office. This first snow in North Dakota's capital city arrived about two weeks later than average. Up to 7 inches had accumulated in North Dakota, as of late Monday morning.

No travel was advised in Bowman, Dunn, McKenzie and Mercer Counties in western North Dakota Sunday. Snow-covered roads were reported as far east as northwest Wisconsin Monday morning, including the Twin Cities metro area Monday morning.

Webster, South Dakota, chalked up the state's heaviest total (8 inches) and patchy freezing drizzle had deposited a thin layer of ice on roads in parts of northern South Dakota.

Parts of western and central Minnesota had picked up 5 inches of snow, as of late Monday morning. Meteorologist Mike Seidel reported 4 inches of snow had fallen in Forest Lake, Minnesota, a far northern suburb of the Twin Cities.

 http://www.wunderground.com/news/winter-storm-astro-snow-forecast-midwest-20141109