Minneapolis, St. Paul declare snow emergencies

Winter parking
Minneapolis and St. Paul have both declared snow emergencies.
Jennifer Simonson | MPR News 2014

Attention, Minneapolis and St. Paul — be careful where you park.

Both cities have now declared snow emergencies following Sunday's snowfall; Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport recorded 3.3 inches of snow. That's close to the typical 4-inch threshold for a snow emergency, said Mike Kennedy of Minneapolis Public Works.

"That's when we start to get enough snow in the parking lanes that we want to ask people to move their cars so we can plow the full width," he said.

"Plus, we had a couple of inches the other day. So in some senses, we've seen about a 6-inch accumulation. ... We just feel that we're going to want to get the city cleaned up here."

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While Sunday's storm just about met the threshold, it came too late in the day to call a snow emergency. Kennedy said the city prefers to give people enough time to move their vehicles.

Here's a refresher on Minneapolis' parking rules during a snow emergency:

• Day 1 (9 p.m. Monday to 8 a.m. Tuesday): No parking on either side of a snow emergency routes until 8 a.m. or until the street is fully plowed.

• Day 2 (8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday): No parking on the even-numbered side of a non-snow emergency route until 8 p.m., or that side of the street is fully plowed, or on either side of a parkway until 8 p.m., or the parkway is fully plowed.

• Day 3 (8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday): No parking on the odd-numbered side of a non-snow emergency route until 8 p.m., or that side of the street is fully plowed.

Here are St. Paul's parking rules.

• Beginning at 9 p.m. on Monday, all night plow routes will be plowed. Night plow routes include streets with signs posted that say "night plow route" and "night plow route-this side of street." Vehicles that are not moved from night plow routes by 9 p.m. on Monday will be ticketed and towed.

• Beginning at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, all day plow routes will be plowed. If the street is not marked as a "night plow route," it is considered a day plow route. Vehicles that are not moved from day plow routes by 8 a.m. on Tuesday will be ticketed and towed.

Meanwhile, we're the nation's icebox again into Wednesday morning.

Stay warm.