First, it was perhaps a few inches. Then, maybe 6 or 8 in the heavier lake-effect snow towns.

Now? Get those shovels out in LaPorte and Berrien counties, where more than a foot of snow may fall, beginning later Monday.

The National Weather Service expects the first significant snow of the season as cold air moves in across the Great Lakes this afternoon.

And now additional counties in Michiana are expecting snow, too. The National Weather Service has continued its lake-effect snow watch for Berrien County, along with LaPorte, St. Joseph, Marshall and Starke in Indiana.

But early Monday, snow advisories were issued for counties including Elkhart and Cass County, Mich.

There, between 3 and 6 inches of snow is expected before 1 a.m. Tuesday, the NWS forecasts. Some areas of LaPorte County received an inch or two late Sunday and early Monday as well, officials said.

Still, the heaviest snows are expected closer to the lake, where snowfall rates of 2 or 3 inches per hour are possible and visibilities along Interstate 94 and the Toll Road are expected to drop to near zero at times.

Snowfalls late tonight and into Tuesday may exceed a foot in southwestern Berrien and LaPorte counties.

For further weather updates and travel conditions, click here.