Winter's (temporary) comeback

St. Paul, Minn. — (AP) After days of April showers brought the promise of spring to parts of Minnesota, the state got a blast of winter weather Tuesday that forced more than 20 school districts to cancel classes and prompted the National Weather Service to issue winter storm warnings.

Most of the canceled classes were in the western part of the state, in areas including Alexandria, Breckenridge, Browns Valley and Fergus Falls.

Winter storm warnings were issued for the central third of the state through the Arrowhead region of northeastern Minnesota, as anywhere from six to nine inches of snow was expected. The heaviest snowfall was expected in a band from around Alexandria and Morris, to St. Cloud, Little Falls, Mora, Center City and into western Wisconsin, the weather service said.

As much as two to six inches of snow was expected elsewhere - including in the Twin Cities metro area - and snow advisories were in effect.

Strong winds gusting to up to 30 miles per hour were also predicted, and the weather service said travel may be difficult due to blowing and drifting snow.

Still, forecasters said the April snow and winter-like temperatures could help parts of the state that were threatened by flooding, at least for the short term, said Vince Godon, a weather service meteorologist in Grand Forks, N.D.

He said colder-than-normal weather this week will help slow down runoff from recent heavy rains and will melt snow gradually, allowing rivers to drop to lower levels, Godon said.