UPDATED: Winter Storm Warning in Effect; Up to 12 Inches of Snow Could Hit Burnsville

Updated, 10:30 a.m., April 10: The National Weather Service has upgraded its winter storm watch to a warning and is now predicting as much as 12 inches of snow could hit the Twin Cities this week.

Forecasters are calling for 6-12 inches of snow, sleet and rain across central Minnesota and the Twin Cities area. The first line of wintry precipitation is expected to hit the metro on Tuesday afternoon, with snow expected as temperatures drop on Wednesday. More sleet and rain may come on Thursday as the snow tapers off on Thursday morning, according to the weather service.

Strong winds are also possible with this storm, and as much as a tenth of an inch of ice could accumulate during this weather system, forecasters say.

Here's the updated advisory, issued at 4:52 a.m. this morning:

... WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 1 PM CDT THURSDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR A MIX SLEET... FREEZING RAIN... AND HEAVY SNOW... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 1 PM CDT THURSDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

* TIMING: RAIN WILL TRANSITION TO A WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION THIS EVENING AND CHANGE OVER TO SNOW LATE WEDNESDAY. SNOW WILL SLOWLY TAPER OFF THURSDAY MORNING.

* MAIN IMPACT: SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 INCHES OR GREATER... MAINLY BETWEEN WEDNESDAY EVENING AND MID DAY THURSDAY.

* OTHER IMPACTS: ICE ACCUMULATIONS UP TO A TENTH OF AN INCH DUE TO SLEET AND LIGHT FREEZING RAIN TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW... SLEET... AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

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... A LATE SEASON WINTER STORM TO IMPACT THE AREA TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY...

.A SINGLE STORM SYSTEM WILL PRODUCE SEVERAL ROUNDS OF WINTRY PRECIPITATION FROM LATER THIS MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 12 INCHES ARE EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA FROM EARLY TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY. SLEET OR RAIN WILL ALSO MIX IN AT TIMES THROUGH THURSDAY. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS FARTHER EAST INTO THE TWIN CITIES AND WESTERN WISCONSIN WILL DEPEND ON HOW QUICKLY A WINTRY MIX CAN CHANGE TO ALL SNOW LATE WEDNESDAY.

PRECIPITATION WILL QUICKLY SPREAD INTO MINNESOTA THIS MORNING. SUB FREEZING SURFACE TEMPERATURE ACROSS WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA WILL ALLOW FOR A SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN MIX THIS MORNING... THAT WILL TRANSITION TO SNOW BY THE AFTERNOON. THE SLEET AND RAIN MIX WILL SLOWLY MOVE TOWARD THE TWIN CITIES METRO THIS AFTERNOON... BEFORE QUICKLY SPREADING ACROSS EASTERN MINNESOTA AND WESTERN WISCONSIN TONIGHT. THE TRANSITION TO SNOW WILL SLOWLY SPREAD EAST ON WEDNESDAY... WITH EASTERN MINNESOTA TRANSITIONING TO SNOW WEDNESDAY EVENING. WESTERN WISCONSIN WILL SEE A TRANSITION TO SNOW WEDNESDAY NIGHT. FINAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL DEPEND ON HOW QUICKLY THE TRANSITION TO SNOW OCCURS.

Original post, 5 p.m., April 9: Old Man Winter is playing a cold, bad joke on the Twin Cities. By the end of the week, Burnsville could have more than six inches of new snow—and just when we thought we were safe from the bleak season.

The National Weather Service in Chanhassen has issued a winter storm watch for much of west central and central Minnesota. Six inches or more snow could fall on the Twin Cities this week, mostly between Wednesday evening and mid-day Thursday The warning is in effect from Tuesday evening through Thursday afternoon.

According to the weather service, the storm will start as light rain and transition to a wintry mix Tuesday evening. Ice accumulations due to sleet and freezing rain are expected Wednesday.

A winter storm warning means severe winter weather conditions are expected. Travel is only advised during an emergency, and travelers should go with extra water, food and a flashlight.

The following is the full advisory from the weather service, issued at 3:39 p.m. Monday:

... WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY EVENING THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY EVENING THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

* TIMING: LIGHT RAIN WILL TRANSITION TO A WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION ON TUESDAY EVENING... AND CHANGE OVER TO SNOW LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

* MAIN IMPACT: SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 INCHES OR GREATER... MAINLY BETWEEN WEDNESDAY EVENING AND MID DAY THURSDAY.

* OTHER IMPACTS: ICE ACCUMULATIONS DUE TO SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN ON TUESDAY EVENING AND WEDNESDAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW... SLEET... OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.

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... A LATE SEASON WINTER STORM TO AFFECT WEST AND CENTRAL MINNESOTA FROM TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...

SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 INCHES OR GREATER ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL AND CENTRAL MINNESOTA FROM EARLY TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING. THE PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN AS A WINTRY MIX OF SLEET AND SNOW LATE TONIGHT ACROSS WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA... AND EXPAND EASTWARD THROUGHOUT THE DAY TUESDAY... REACHING EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA BY TUESDAY EVENING. WHILE SNOW WILL BE THE PRIMARY PRECIPITATION TYPE ACROSS FAR WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA NEAR ALEXANDRIA AND MORRIS... LOCATIONS TO THE SOUTH AND EAST WILL LIKELY ENDURE A MIX OF SNOW... SLEET... AND FREEZING RAIN ON TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. AS COLDER AIR WORKS INTO THE AREA WITH THE ARRIVAL OF THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM... THE MIXED PRECIPITATION WILL CHANGE TO SNOW... WITH ALL AREAS SEEING ACCUMULATING SNOW ON WEDNESDAY EVENING INTO THURSDAY MORNING