(Radio Iowa) – The last weekend of winter is just ahead and forecasters say Iowa could be in for one last blast that could drop up to eight inches of snow on parts of northern Iowa. Meteorologist Brooke Hagenhoff, at the National Weather Service, says Iowans may need to reconsider their weekend plans as this sizeable storm could be a doozy. “Starting mainly late Saturday night and then through the day on Sunday, and it could go a little bit into Monday as well,” Hagenhoff says. “This is a large system that’s going to impact much of the upper Midwest, including a large portion of Iowa into Minnesota and Wisconsin.” The forecast is still fluid, but at the moment, it’s predicted northwest Iowa will get up to four inches of snowfall on Saturday night, while northeast Iowa could see up to eight inches.

“We’re still determining what the exact track is going to be. Any small shifts at this point could have some pretty serious changes in the impacts expected across Iowa,” Hagenhoff says. “So as it’s still days out, we’re going to fine-tune that forecast and have more information in the days to come.” The most immediate threat is from the wind, as wide areas of Iowa will be under a High Wind Warning starting at 10 o’clock tonight (Thursday). “The wind is going to shift from out of the south to out of the northwest, and when that happens, we’re going to see an increase in those wind speeds, 55 to 60-plus miles per hour are expected,” she says. “The strongest gusts will be across parts of northern Iowa.”

Also, the National Weather Service is confirming Iowa’s first two tornadoes of the year struck in Tuesday night’s storms in southeast Iowa’s Lee County near Donnelson, causing scattered damage. The first day of spring is a week from tomorrow, on March 20th.