Winter storm causes tough travel in parts of Minnesota
Updated: 2 p.m.
After a historically slow start to winter across much of the region, swaths of Minnesota and neighboring states are finally getting significant snow.
Parts of southwest Minnesota had received more than a half-foot of snow as of midday Monday. Reports relayed by the National Weather Service included 7.5 inches near Hills and 6.5 inches at Slayton.
Weather spotters near Worthington, Redwood Falls, Edgerton and Pipestone reported between 4 and 5 inches of snow.
Additional accumulation is possible in those areas, where a winter storm warning remains in effect through Tuesday morning. Heavy snow is also possible from later Monday through early Wednesday in southeast Minnesota.
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The Minnesota Department of Transportation continued to report icy roads Monday afternoon across much of southern and central Minnesota.
School closings, delays
The heavy snow falling — with more in the forecast — prompted some southwest Minnesota school districts to change plans for Monday.
Several districts moved to online learning Monday, including Adrian, Canby, Luverne, Milroy, Minneota, Tracy and Worthington.
Other districts canceled school Monday, including Lake Benton, Lynd, Pipestone and Red Rock Central.
All Minnesota West Community and Technical College campuses opened late on Monday.
It was not yet clear whether any districts would cancel or delay classes on Tuesday.
The city of Worthington declared a snow emergency, meaning all parked vehicles need to be removed from city streets to allow plows to clear the snow.
Difficult driving
Nobles County Sheriff Ryan Kruger told MPR’s Minnesota Now on Monday that his deputies had responded to a few crashes and spinouts in the Worthington area as of midday.
Forecasters are “anticipating winds to pick up overnight. And with that in our open area down here, it can create zero visibility and really tough driving conditions,” Kruger said, “When that starts to happen, I would encourage people to stay home. If you don’t need to be out, stay home and stay off the road so we don’t have to try to find you.”
To the west in South Dakota, the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls had received more than 8 inches of snow by noon Monday.
Earlier in the day, the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office advised no travel in the area.
“Please be aware if you travel and become stranded it may take an extended amount of time to reach you due to the heavy snowfall,” the sheriff’s office reported.
Watches, warnings in effect
Winter storm warnings are in effect through Tuesday morning for southwest Minnesota and much of eastern South Dakota.
Winter storm watches and warnings go into effect late Monday through early Wednesday in southeast Minnesota, northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin.
Winter weather advisories are in effect elsewhere in southern and west-central Minnesota. There’s also an advisory in place for the North Shore from noon Monday through noon Tuesday, for the potential of up to a half-foot of lake-effect snow.
The Twin Cities was not under any advisories or warnings as of Monday afternoon. The Weather Service said the metro area should see an inch or two of snow through Tuesday.
Links for more information
Here’s how to keep tabs on forecasts, travel conditions and flight updates.
Forecast updates
MPR News: Live weather blog and real-time radar
National Weather Service: Snowfall reports
Travel conditions
These state transportation departments offer live updates on road conditions and crashes:
For bus and light rail riders in the Twin Cities, Metro Transit offers weather-related updates on its Metro Transit and Metro Transit Alerts Twitter pages, as well as on its website.
Flight updates
If you’re planning to fly from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport or another airport around the region — or if you are expecting visitors to arrive by plane — airports offer flight status updates online: