The good news: Austin and southern Minnesota are likely going to see a white Christmas.

“The chance for a white Christmas, I would say, is pretty good,” said Todd Rieck, a meteorologist with The National Weather Service in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

The bad news: Winter is likely here … for good.

“It’s definitely winter; this week is going to feel like winter,” Rieck said.

Monday morning found plows digging Austin out from the roughly 7.3 inches of snow that fell Saturday into Sunday morning, but that’s just the beginning. A week of bitter cold is already descending upon Austin, and it could end with another batch of heavy snow.

According to the weather service, Monday’s high of 12 will likely be the temperature high point until Friday as arctic air descends on the region. Temperatures are expected to dip to minus 4 overnight with minus 15 wind chills as a cold stretch grips the area for much of the week.

From Tuesday through Thursday, highs will only be in the single digits with lows dipping below zero.

The coldest point, according to Rieck, should be Wednesday night into Thursday morning, when temperatures should drop to near minus 9 with wind chills around minus 30.

Rieck urged people to take the normal precautions as winter’s first stretch of bitter cold sinks in: bundle up, avoid exposure to uncovered skin, limit time outside, and pay extra care and attention to pets.

“If you haven’t found where you’re hat and gloves are yet, you’re definitely going to want to do that,” Rieck said.

If current projections hold, wind chill advisories should be issued at the coldest points this week.

The cold stretch should break with a high near 17 on Friday, but don’t get too excited for warmer weather. That’s because early projections show Austin in the path of another winter storm for Friday and Saturday.

If the path holds, Rieck said the storm will track along Interstate 90, leaving Austin and Mower County with several inches of snow and a bunch of wind.

However, it’s too early to accurately project the storm, as the intensity and track could still change.

“We are watching this potential winter storm,” Rieck said. “But again, trying to narrow out the details, it’s far too early to do that.”

While NWS isn’t issuing storm projections yet, www.weather.com and www.intellicast.com are predicting 6 to 11 inches — 5 to 8 on Friday, 1 to 3 on Friday night and a little more snow on Saturday.

That snow could cause even more headaches as NWS is calling for Saturday to be blustery with 16 to 21 mph winds.