The National Weather Service our of La Crosse, Wis., has issued a winter storm warning for portion of southeast Minnesota including Mower, Dodge, Olmsted and Fillmore Counties beginning Sunday afternoon and lasting through Tuesday.

According to the NWS, an arctic cold front is expected to move into the region Sunday afternoon bringing with it life threatening cold, snow and blowing snow creating near blizzard conditions.

Snow will begin falling tonight with the possibility of between 2 and 4 inches expected with higher totals west of the Mississippi River. The cold front will bring with it strong winds that will produce blowing and drifting snow Sunday afternoon into Monday morning.

Winds could gust as high as 40 and 50 miles per hour with wind chills possible of 35 to 50 below. Temperatures are expected to hit a high of around 21 degrees but will drop significantly into Sunday evening with a low of -18 degrees. Monday night could hit -24 degrees.