I-94 remains closed in NW Minnesota , N.D.

Shoveling out car
Amanda Joseph attempts to shovel out her car on Veron Avenue in Fergus Falls after the snow plows went by and blocked her car in on Friday, Dec. 31, 2010. Fergus Falls received 11 inches of snow from a Thursday winter storm that hit West Central Minnesota and the Dakotas.
Jeff Hage/Fergus Falls Daily Journal

Interstate 94 has closed again between Alexandria and the North Dakota border as winds pick up, cutting visibility.

Minnesota State Patrol Sgt. Jesse Grabow says that stretch of I-94 closed 4 p.m. Friday. U.S. Highway 10 between Moorhead and Detroit Lakes also closed again.

U.S. Highway 10 between Moorhead and Detroit Lakes also has closed again. Both stretches had reopened earlier Friday after being closed Thursday evening.

KSAX-TV says weather is expected to worsen in the region. The National Weather Service says the Alexandria area can expect 7 to 9 inches of snow by early Saturday morning, with temperatures ranging from minus-5 to 10 degrees.

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Highway 210 from Fergus Falls to the North Dakota border, and Highway 28 between Browns Valley and Westport is also closed.

The highways will remain closed until Saturday, when plows have had a chance to clear them.

In the last 24 hours, troopers in northwestern and west-central Minnesota have responded to 184 vehicles sliding off the road.

Fergus Falls snow
Gordy Strege helps out his neighbors by removing the snow from the end of their driveways on N. Vine Street early Friday morning in Fergus Falls after a winter storm dumped as much as 11 inches of snow on parts of Otter Tail County in west-central Minnesota.
Jeff Hage/Fergus Falls Daily Journal

Kevin Gutknecht, a spokesman for MnDOT, said even though the highways have reopened, he advises people in northwest Minnesota to avoid driving if they can.

"The current driving conditions in west-central Minnesota are still extremely difficult," Gutknecht said. "The snow is blowing and drifting. Visibility is not good. Motorists really need to use caution if they're going to drive to that part."

In North Dakota, I-94 remains closed between Fargo and Jamestown. Parts of I-29 in North Dakota are also closed. They are likely to stay closed until Saturday.

West of Fargo, a single accident on Thursday afternoon involved dozens of vehicles on a stretch of I-94. Cass County Chief Deputy Jim Thoreson said the pileup came in whiteout conditions.

"Our problem is we've got literally dozens and dozens of vehicles stalled, stuck, or crashed that are on the roadways," Thoreson said.

Western Minnesota and the eastern Dakotas are under a blizzard warning through Saturday morning. Several more inches of snow are expected across that region later Friday and Saturday.

A MnDOT spokesman said roads are in pretty good shape in the Twin Cities, but precipitation could cause roads to become slick. The National Weather service is predicting snow, light sleet and a chance of light freezing rain this afternoon.

Conditions are making travel difficult in northeastern Minnesota as well, Gutknecht said.

"Cook, Lake, St. Louis County up in that area," he said. "They too have blowing snow. They too have some freezing drizzle that's slicking up the roadways. So, really throughout much of the state -- or at least the northern two-thirds of the state -- it's looking like road conditions are pretty tough."

The National Weather Service says the Alexandria area can expect 7 to 9 inches of snow by early Saturday morning, with temperatures ranging from minus-5 to 10 degrees.

Officials in Moody County in southeastern South Dakota are advising no travel except for emergencies through Saturday morning.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)