After a beautiful Tuesday of melting snow and mostly clear skies, we can expect a brief storm to pass through the area tonight and drop some snow - depending on where you are.

A compact "shortwave" system will drop from the Dakotas into northern Iowa on Tuesday evening. With temperatures hovering around the freezing point tonight (32 degrees), it some rain can be expected to be mixed in with any snow. This wintry mix of precipitation will begin in Cerro Gordo county around 9-10pm tonight, moving east as the night progresses. The system exits Cerro Gordo county by 3am early Wednesday at the very latest.

This compact system will drop a very narrow strip of around 1 inch of snow across Northern Iowa. Lesser to trace amounts can be expected near the system in parts of Southern Minnesota. Because the area of accumulation is so thin, any slight shift in the system north or south could mean the difference between seeing snow and not.

The Wednesday morning commute could be impacted for those traveling in the affected area.