More snow was no joke as April 1 rolled around, with the area getting three to five inches in the last round, but with another wintery mix on the way next week, Mankato residents said they’re ready for temperatures to warm up.
Several four-legged friends and their humans were out enjoying the sunshine at the Kiwanis Recreation Area dog park Saturday before the next round rolls in.
Mankato resident Dianna Delomba, who takes her dogs out to the park every weekend, said she thinks Mankato has had enough of the cold.
“Absolutely looking forward to warmer weather,” she said. “We all are absolutely ready for warm sunshine and double digits that are not in the low teens here.”
Mankato resident Jace Trachsel, who runs a side gig clearing out snow, had a busy line up of work ahead of him Saturday.
He said he sent out about 20 to 30 text messages to schedule work with clients that morning.
While he said it’s not as busy as heavier snow storms, the demand is out there.
As a native Minnesotan, he said the winter is what he lives for, but he’s still ready for warmer days.
“I’m a hockey kid and like playing in the snow. I like to go ski, snowboard,” he said. “I’m ready for it to be done. I was working last night. I’m a bouncer in downtown Mankato. I’m just watching it fall, and I’m like, yeah,” he said.
But Minnesotans might have to wait a while before we’re done with snow, according to National Weather Service Senior Forecastor Bill Borghoff.
The next system will move in early next week and will likely start moving in Tuesday morning and continue through early Wednesday.
“We could see a brief period of a wintery mix as that precipitation moves in, but it looks like it should be mostly rain through Tuesday night and early Wednesday before turning into a little bit of light snow on Wednesday,” Borghoff said, adding that the Mankato area will likely see less than an inch of snow.
Mankato received three inches of snow this time. Waseca and Owatonna reported up to five inches.
Borghoff said visibility dropped to around a half mile for a time with winds between 30 to 40 mph, meaning Mankato was close to blizzard status, conditions that were met farther north.
Looking ahead, Borghoff described the forecast as a rollercoaster.
“We’ll have several cold fronts come through during the next week to week and a half to keep us below normal. But it does look like we’ll finally be nearing 50 degrees at some point late next week for a time,” he said. “After that it cools off again.”