Photo by Deb Gau Winter weather arrived early in southwest Minnesota on Tuesday. A few inches of snow piled up around West College Drive in Marshall, where one local resident jogged through the crossing with their dog.

MARSHALL — The first snow of the season arrived in southwest Minnesota on Tuesday, creating a slushy, slippery mess on roads.

Several inches of wet snow fell in the Marshall area over the course of the day. Around 4 inches of snow was reported in Marshall late Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service office in Sioux Falls.

However, that wasn’t the end of the snowfall — several counties in the region, including Lyon County, were in a winter weather advisory that lasted through Tuesday afternoon. The NWS forecast daytime snow accumulations of around 6 inches in the Marshall area.

In Lyon County, snowfall totals tended to be higher in the north. Snowfall reports posted by the NWS included 2.7 inches of snow in Tracy on Tuesday morning, compared to Marshall’s 4 inches. By 12:30, there was 5.5 inches of snow reported in Taunton.

Snow covered area highways, creating slippery conditions. The Minnesota State Patrol reported several crashes and vehicles off the road in the Marshall region on Tuesday morning, said Sgt. Troy Christianson. Between 6 and 11 a.m., state troopers reported four vehicles off the road, three property damage crashes and two injury crashes.

Reports of vehicles going into the ditch or crashing continued Tuesday afternoon.

The chance for snow and rain continues through Thursday, the NWS said. Forecasts for the Marshall said there will be a slight chance of snow this morning, changing over to a slight chance of rain in the afternoon. The rain is forecast to continue Thursday, with a chance of switching back to snow Thursday night.

Temperatures are forecast to be in the high 30s and low 40s until Friday when conditions could get sunnier and colder, the NWS said.