MARSHALL — A winter storm heading toward southwest Minnesota could rank among some of the snowiest on record for the Marshall, the National Weather Service said.

The storm, named Olive by the Weather Channel, could potentially dump 16 to 19 inches of snow between now and Thursday. That might not be a record-breaking amount of snow for southwest Minnesota, but it’s close, said Jeff Chapman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls.

Marshall’s record for a two-day snowfall in February is 30 inches of snow, which was recorded Feb. 19 and 20, 1952. The city’s next highest February snowfall was 17 inches in 1953.

The storm will also send gusting winds and colder temperatures to the region, Chapman said.

A winter weather advisory will be in effect in Marshall from noon today until 6 a.m. Wednesday, followed by a winter storm watch until noon Thursday. Snow is predicted to start falling across southwest Minnesota today, with a second, heavier round of snow and gusting wind coming Wednesday into Thursday.

Chapman said the most significant part of the snowfall would likely come Wednesday night into early Thursday morning.

“We’re also going to be looking at some very strong winds across the area,” Chapman said.

On Wednesday and Thursday, gusts could reach speeds of 40 to 50 miles per hour.

“That’s probably going to produce some whiteout conditions,” he said.

In addition, wind chills as low as 30 degrees below zero could pose a risk later this week, he said.

Area school districts, including Marshall Public Schools, are keeping an eye on the forecast this week.

“We’ll take it like we have in the past, day by day,” said Dion Caron, director of business services at MPS. Caron said the district will be monitoring weather and travel conditions, and taking into account whether there is a winter storm or blizzard warning in the area.

The challenge for the district is that this year it has already used up the five e-learning days it is allowed by the state. Caron said the district has some days built into the academic calendar that can still be used as snow days. For example, when school was canceled on Feb. 15, the district swapped that day for a staff development day that had been planned in March. Caron said there’s another snow day built into the calendar on April 6, and another staff development day planned for June 1.

However, if the existing options for snow days are all used, MPS may still need to consider adding make-up days to meet the number of instructional days required by Minnesota law.

“If March is the same (as February), we’ll have to look at that,” Caron said.