Flood watches are posted for the southern half of Minnesota ahead of a round of storms that could bring 1-4 inches of rain

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A burst of snow sparked dozens of crashes on Minnesota highways Thursday morning — including a pileup of more than two dozen vehicles that closed northbound Interstate Hwy. 35 near Owatonna.

The Minnesota State Patrol reported the I-35 crash involved 20 passenger cars and six jackknifed semis, but there were only minor injuries. 

It happened at about 9:20 a.m. in the northbound lanes about a mile north of the U.S. Highway 14 interchange. Northbound traffic was detoured off the interstate for the rest of the morning; the Patrol said the lanes reopened by about 12:30 p.m.

Elsewhere around the state, the Patrol reported 146 crashes on state and federal highways between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. Thursday, along with 106 vehicles that spun out or went into the ditch.

Eighteen of those crashes resulted in injuries, but the Patrol said there were no reports of serious injuries or fatalities.

Snow was tapering off or had ended across much of Minnesota as of 11:45 a.m. Snow totals from the morning hours across the state included 4.5 inches near Pillager, 4 inches at Bluffton, 3.5 inches in Duluth and 3.4 inches at Mahtowa. Southern Minnesota saw a dusting of snow up to about an inch or two.

Minnesota News

Weather and Climate News

Transportation

Andrew Krueger

Author

A burst of snow sparked dozens of crashes on Minnesota highways Thursday morning — including a pileup of more than two dozen vehicles that closed northbound Interstate Hwy. 35 near Owatonna.


The northbound lanes of Interstate 35 at Owatonna are closed

Minnesota Department of Transportation

A jackknifed semi sits on the side of a road

Dozens of crashes reported on snowy roads in Minnesota, including I-35 pileup near Owatonna

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