Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The National Weather Service is predicting a particularly nasty week, even by Minnesota standards.

A Winter Storm Warning has now been posted for a large area of the south half of the state, most of Wisconsin and northeast Iowa from 3 PM Sunday through 3 PM on Monday. A powerful clipper system is forecast to sweep across the state tomorrow afternoon and deliver 5-10 inches of snow to some areas. The latest forecasting models have the heaviest snow located slightly to the north and east of Rochester, which included in an area predicted to see 6-8 inches of accumulation. The possibly heavy snow will likely be accompanied by strong northwest winds, cutting down visibility, causing drifting, and pulling a mass of arctic air further to the south.

The exit of the storm will be followed by what could be one of the region’s worst cold spells in over 20 years. The overnight lows in the Rochester area could fall into the 25 to 30 below zero range and the daytime highs are only predicted to reach the 15 to 20 below zero range on Wednesday. Tuesday is also expected to have a sub-zero afternoon high and the wind chills could drop into the -50 to -60 range Tuesday night and Wednesday.

After the mercury slips below zero on Monday afternoon or evening, it’s possible Rochester and many other areas of Minnesota may not see temperatures above zero until near the end of the week. At this time, the National Weather is predicting the high on Friday might reach 5-degrees above zero.

More From 106.9 KROC-FM