Feb 28, 2012; 9:02 AM ET
A Leap Day blizzard will hit portions of the Dakotas and Minnesota hard with heavy snow, severe drifting snow and very low visibility to close out February 2012.
Feb. 29 happens only once every four years, so blizzards on this date are much more rare than any other day in the winter. Wednesday is Leap Day 2012.
According to Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski, "Conditions experienced in height of the storm Tuesday night into Wednesday will range from disruptive to immobilizing along portions of I-29, I-90 and I-94."
Cities in the path of the storm include Fargo, Jamestown and Bismarck in North Dakota, Pierre, Huron and Aberdeen in South Dakota and Duluth, St. Cloud and Bemidji in Minnesota. The worst of the storm for much of this area will be late tonight into Wednesday.
The storm has already spread heavy snow from the mountains of Arizona into Colorado.
For a larger snowfall forecast map is available on AccuWeather.com's Winter Weather Site.
As the storm rolls northeastward across the Plains, intermittent snow will break out well ahead of the main storm over the Dakotas and portions of Minnesota today. Little or no accumulation will result initially in most areas due to the spotty, light nature of the snow and the snow hitting during the day .
However, things will change as the storm causes precipitation to dramatically ramp up and road surfaces cool tonight. Extra moisture will feed up from the south tonight. There can even be thunder and lightning with the snow in portions of the heavy snow area.
The snow will become heavier and winds will increase over the eastern part of the Dakotas and central Minnesota late today and tonight. The heavy rate of snow, combined with increasing blowing and drifting of snow on the ground will cause travel conditions to deteriorate rapidly.
Heavy snow and some wind will also reach into northern Wisconsin and central and northern Michigan tonight into Wednesday.
The storm will also have a warm side to it as many often do with a zone of rain and thunderstorms. Severe weather is possible from portions of the central and southern Plains to the Ohio Valley.
Photo from Groundhog Day Blizzard in Chicago on Feb. 2, 2011 by AccuWeather.com Facebook fan Laercio L.
In between, a brief period of wintry mix ranging from sleet, freezing rain and wet snow will occur right along the storm center track at the onset, followed by a change to rain from northern Iowa and southern Minnesota to central Wisconsin, the potential for a glaze of ice or a coating of slush today. In the Detroit area, this potential exists later tonight.
A difference in temperature of a few degrees around the start of the precipitation near the ground and several thousand feet up will determine whether or not some of these areas have a brief, or extended, period of wintry mix.
As the blizzard diminishes over the northern Plains and the Upper Midwest later Wednesday, the next stop for the storm will be the Northeast.
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