The University of St. Thomas will close Tuesday at 8 p.m. and remain closed through Wednesday, Nov. 27, due to winter weather, the university said in an alert.

During a closure, all classes are canceled and university departments and offices are closed except for essential services, which include “Public Safety personnel and certain employees from Facilities Management, ITS, O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library and Food Services” according to a letter emailed to the St. Thomas community on Friday from executive vice president and provost Richard Plumb.

By 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, much of southwestern Minnesota was blanketed by the storm and most major highways were reported as 100% snow-covered.

“Heavy snow will arrive area wide (Tuesday) evening and continue overnight before ending Wednesday morning,” a National Weather Service statement said. “Snow accumulation of 6 to 13 inches expected in the warming area, with the heaviest amounts in an axis from Fairmont, to Mankato, Twin Cities, and northwest Wisconsin.”

The university last closed due to winter weather on the afternoon of Feb. 20. The last full day closure was on Jan. 30 for extreme cold.

Travel plans for many students were complicated by the storm, particularly because of the Thanksgiving holiday. The University of Minnesota also canceled classes for Wednesday, as did St. Paul public schools, St. Catherine University and Bethel University.

Emily Haugen and Justin Amaker contributed to this report.