I-94 reopens between Moorhead, Alexandria
Schools in more than 100 Minnesota cities were closed Monday or starting school late after a strong winter storm dumped up to 14 inches of snow in parts of the area.
Of that number, schools in 20 communities - including Bemidji and Fergus Falls in the northwest to Duluth, Hibbing and Chisholm on the Iron Range - canceled classes Monday.
School officials were concerned about wind chills for students waiting at bus stops, but those bone-chilling conditions weren't going to chase Dan OHearon off his roof in Duluth.
O'Hearon is the owner of Custom Cab Co. in Duluth and he climbed to the top of the GAPWEST broadcasting building Saturday and intends to stay there until Christmas Eve. He's raising money to support free cab rides for intoxicated people through the holidays.
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"Its been one heck of an adventure so far," OHearon said Sunday. "Im freezing my butt off, and the wind has been beating against my tent like crazy, but Im not going anywhere."
He expected it to get worse on Monday, when the temperature was forecast to fall to 25 below zero.
"Its going to be tough, but I'm in survival mode," OHearon said. "I am just going to buckle down and bear with it. ... I am here until Christmas, and I ain't coming down."
It was 11 below zero in Duluth at mid-morning Monday, with a wind chill of 37 below. In Minneapolis, which missed out on the heavy snows of Sunday, it was 6 below with a wind chill of 27 below.
At 6 a.m., the wind chill in central Minnesota was 41 below zero in Morris and 40 below in Alexandria and Glenwood. Wind chills were expected to remain near 40 below zero through Monday for west-central and south-central Minnesota.
The National Weather Service said Hewitt, in west-central Minnesota, received 14 inches of snow. Proctor, in northeastern Minnesota, got 11 inches, Little Falls and Donnelly got 8.5 inches, and Brainerd received 8 inches.
The Minnesota State Patrol in Detroit Lakes said Interstate 94 between Moorhead and Alexandria reopened Monday morning. Highway 10 from Detroit Lakes to Fargo, N.D., and Highway 210 from Fergus Falls to Breckenridge also reopened. So did U.S. Highway 2 between East Grand Forks and Crookston.
While many Minnesotans watched the storm from the heated comfort of their homes, some chose to go out into it. Take Rory Strange of Duluth, who spent part of Sunday using his snow thrower to blow snow back at the storm.
He spent a couple of hours clearing his sidewalk, and the walkways of some of his neighbors.
"I like to help out when I can," he said.
His bout with the elements left him cherry-red face, and ice crystals covered his eyebrows. "It's not so bad; I actually kind of like it," he said.
On the southern end of the state, conditions got so bad Sunday along I-90 in Martin County that tow truck companies were rescuing motorists who slid off the road, but leaving their vehicles behind to retrieve later.
"What we're doing is going out and trying to (bring) people in so they're safe," Martin County Deputy Jeff Markquart said on Sunday. "We'll tow stuff tomorrow."
Authorities in Martin and Faribault counties asked the state to close the interstate, which runs along the state's southern border, but the road remained open.
"It takes quite a bit to close that," Markquart said.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
