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• Global warming? Winter blast aims at northwest Wisconsin
• Corrected: River Falls, Elmwood men involved in hunting accident
• First barge of season makes its way into Lake Pepin heading for St. Paul
• One dead in two-pickup crash near Beldenville

By Wheeler News Service

Those April showers will look almost blinding in northwest Wisconsin.

A blizzard warning is in effect in the Duluth-Superior area from 7 p.m. tonight (Thursday) until 7 a.m. Saturday morning.

The National Weather Service expects from 8-9 inches of snow are expected in the northwest tonight and another 4-5 inches Friday.

Winds near Lake Superior will gust up to 45 mph, with possible white out conditions.

In the region, winter storm warnings are up for Polk, Barron, Washburn and Burnett counties in Wisconsin.

Flood warnings have been posted for Pepin and Buffalo counties.

In Minnesota winter storm warnings are up for all counties in the Twin City metro area, basically all counties from Dakota County north.

Other parts of the north could get six inches or more and the National Weather Service warns of icy conditions, because sleet-and-rain will be mixed in.

They're also warning shovelers that the snow will be extremely wet and heavy and it won't be easy to move.

Mother Nature won't be much help, either.

After today, it might be early next week before the mercury returns to the 40's in northwest Wisconsin.

Almost the northern half of the state could get at least a couple inches of snow and slush over the next two days.

The southern portions could will see up to two-inches of rain, creating even more flooding along some already-swollen rivers.

A River Falls man and a man from Elmwood were involved in a hunting accident April 3 which left one of them wounded.

Devon Bengtson, 20, River Falls, and Michael Stambaugh, 20, Elmwood, were hunting together on private property just off Dunn County C at around 6 p.m. when the incident occurred.

According to William Yearman, a recreational safety warden with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources office in Eau Claire, the pair was rabbit hunting.

Yearman said Stambaugh went to pick up a rabbit he had shot when Bengtson spotted another rabbit about 20 feet to the left of where Stambaugh was standing.

Bengtson shot at the rabbit, but the .22 caliber bullet ricocheted and struck Stambaugh in the thigh.

Stambaugh was taken to Red Cedar Medical Center in Menomonie for treatment.

The case has been turned over to the Dunn County District Attorney for possible prosecution, which Yearman says is standard procedure in cases like this.

Even though winter storm warnings are up across parts of the region there is a sign of spring.

Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in St. Paul say that the first barge-tow of the season passed through Lock and Dam No. 4 in Alma at around 10:53 a.m. today (Thursday).

The MV David L. Griggs, a tow operated by General Electric Capital Corp. Brownsville, Texas, is pushing 15 barges.

According to Corps officials, the Griggs is proceeding through Lake Pepin and is expected to reach St. Paul early Friday morning.

The exact arrival time is unavailable and will depend on how long it takes to break through the ice of Lake Pepin and how many stops made.

Lock and Dam 4 is the first lock and dam south of Lake Pepin.

Corps officials say that Lake Pepin is the last part of the river to break up because the river is wider and the current is slower there than it is at other reaches of the river.

They say that if a barge-tow can make it through Lake Pepin, it can make it all the way to St. Paul.

Ice measurements taken by the Corps of Engineers Wednesday show that the Griggs should have no problem breaking through the ice at Lake Pepin.

The average opening date of the navigation season for the last 30 years has been March 20.

In 2007, the first tow to make it to St. Paul was the MV Cooperative Venture, a tow owned by American River Transportation Co., of St. Louis, on March 29.

This late start, due to unusually cold spring temperatures, breaks the previous late record of April 7, 1978.

Pierce County authorities responded to the scene of a two-vehicle crash just south of Beldenville Thursday afternoon shortly after a spring snow storm hit the area.

The collision between two pickup trucks sent one into a nearby farm field while the other came to rest on the shoulder of Hwy. 65, between the bridge and south junction of CTH J.

Ellsworth fire and ambulance personnel were dispatched about 3:40 p.m. to the broadside collision on Hwy. 65, south of Beldenville.

At least one person was transported by ambulance directly from the scene to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. Another was said to be dead at the scene.

One lane of traffic remained open through the area as authorities worked to clear the crash.

Driving rain mixed with snow had begun in the River Falls area about 30 minutes before the crash was reported. Pavement at the scene was slippery and slush-covered minutes after the collision.

Shortly after 4 p.m., deputies and River Falls emergency crews were also summoned to another possible injury accident on Hwy. 29, about five miles east of River Falls.

Names of those involved will be posted when they're made available.

Pictures of the vehicles appear at www.piercecountyherald.com.