Albert Lea and much of southern and western Minnesota has been placed under a winter weather advisory going into the holiday weekend.

The National Weather Service has issued the advisory for snow beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday through noon Friday.

Snowfall totals of 5 to 6 inches are expected to fall in the Albert Lea area by late Friday morning. High winds, which cause drifting, are not expected.

The snow is expected to arrive tonight and the area is predicted to receive 2 to 4 inches of snow by Friday morning. Another 1 to 3 inches of new snow accumulation are expected Friday morning with a high of 26 degrees.

Scattered flurries could go into Friday night. No snow is on the horizon for Christmas Day, with partly sunny skies and a high near 21 on the radar.

Snow covered roads and reduced visibilities could impact holiday travel.

Steele, Faribault, Waseca and Blue Earth counties and Worth and Winnebago counties in Iowa are in the advisory, too.

During Monday’s snowstorm, Albert Lea received an estimated 7 1/2 inches of snow, among the highest in the Chanhassen-based district of the National Weather Service. The same amount fell in Ellendale. Owatonna, Janesville, North Mankato, Faribault and Glencoe reported 6 inches. The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airported received 4 1/2 inches. St. Cloud and Plymouth reported 4 inches. Stillwater and Hastings had 3.

In the LaCrosse district of the National Weather Service, Austin reported 5 1/2 inches. La Crescent had 5 inches. Winona had 3 inches. Waukon, Iowa, had 7 inches.

Albert Lea received about 6.5 inches of snow on Dec. 16 and 8 inches on Dec. 11.