New Winter Weather Warnings in Minnesota This Year

Just in time for Winter Weather Awareness Week, the National Weather Service announced recently it's changing some of the the terms it'll be using this year to forecast winter storms.

ABC-6 Meteorologist Chris Kuball posted about the new information from the National Weather Service on his Facebook page on Monday. While the changes aren't too drastic, there will still a few differences in our Minnesota forecasts this winter.

For instance, the terms 'Blizzard Watch' and 'Freezing Rain Advisory' are both being eliminated. Now, that doesn't mean that the gang at the National Weather Service won't be forecasting blizzards or freezing rain, it's just that they're consolidating those terms into other, already-used terms.

So, instead of seven potential forecast warnings this winter, there will now only be five. They are: Winter Storm Watch, Winter Storm Warning, Blizzard Warning, Ice Storm Warning, and Winter Weather Advisory.

So, what once would have been a Blizzard Watch will now be covered by the Winter Storm Watch, which they define as "dangerous winter weather threatens in 2-3 days."

Meanwhile, the old Freezing Rain Advisory will now be covered by Winter Weather Advisory, which means a "nuisance-type winter event" that could "still impact travel."

You can read more about winter weather forecasts and safety from the National Weather Service HERE.