Children in winter coats line up to get into a school bus Thursday, March 21, 2024 in Bismarck, N.D. Parts of Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin are under winter weather advisories, with snow expected to start falling Thursday in some areas. Minnesota could see a foot of snow over the weekend, and parts of New England could also see 12 to 18 inches in the coming days. (Tom Stromme/The Bismarck Tribune via AP)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — After a season with very little snow, a blast of snowy weather could dump a foot or more in some northern states, just as spring officially arrives.

Parts of Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin were under winter weather advisories, with snow expected to start falling Thursday in some areas. Minnesota could see a foot of snow over the weekend, and parts of New England could also see 12 to 18 inches in the coming days.

Less than an inch of snow was predicted for the Dickinson county area overnight, along with possibly an inch today. Widespread snow totals of 1-3 inches were expected across the Upper Peninsula, with up to 5 inches possible in some south-central areas, the National Weather Service said.

A strong system will bring a mix of rain and snow late this weekend into next week, NWS said in a hazardous weather outlook for the U.P.

“It seems like it is supposed to be in like a lion and out like a lamb,” said Brian Hurley, a senior meteorologist with the NWS’s Weather Prediction Center. “Now it just seems like it was flipped for a lot of these areas: In like a lamb and out like a lion.”

The spring follows a wild winter, with record heat in February allowing for golf in Wisconsin and outdoor food trucks in Minnesota.

A mishmash of systems get the credit — or the blame, depending on who you ask — for this spring snowstorm.

Another system already started spreading light to moderate snow Thursday from northeast Montana to the Dakotas, and was expected to expand into the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes by today. Another system will arrive on its heels, entering from the West Coast today and spreading precipitation inland.

Additional heavy snow will continue into early next week across much of the northern Plains, the National Weather Service said.

In Wisconsin, where record-setting warmth in February contributed to the first tornadoes the state has ever seen in that month, forecasts called for anywhere from 1 to 3 inches across southern parts of the state by this afternoon.

Madison, the state capital, braced for up to 5 inches and Milwaukee was set to get up to 6 inches. Up to 5 inches was expected to fall on Lake Geneva, where organizers were forced to cut the city’s annual winter ice festival short due to February’s warm temperatures.

Grand Rapids, Michigan, expected to receive about 4 inches. The storm was expected to just clip the Chicago area, with forecasts calling for rain and snow but little accumulation.

Temperatures won’t be particularly cold, mostly in the 20s and 30s, said Hurley, of the Weather Prediction Center.

“Some of these areas are going to see maybe their heaviest snow of the season, if you call it a new season,” he said. “We will call it the cool season.”

—-

The Daily News contributed to this report.