First round of snow winds down across Minnesota; all eyes on weekend storm
Updated: 12:15 p.m.
The first in a one-two punch of winter weather dropped several inches of snow overnight across much of Minnesota, leaving slippery roads for the Friday morning commute and accounting for nearly 300 crashes and spinouts within 11 hours.
Snow totals began rolling in mid-morning, peaking in the east-central part of the state. The National Weather Service reported 8 inches in Clear Lake, Bradford and Luxemburg, 7.5 inches in St. Francis and Chisago City, 5.9 inches in Otsego and 5.5 inches in Ham Lake. Most of the mid and south Twin Cities metro saw around 3 inches.
Public works crews were able to pre-treat many roads in the metro area, making it a bit easier for plows Friday as they also prepare for a potentially much bigger storm Sunday through Tuesday.
“There could be a snow emergency for both cities on Monday night,” said St. Paul Public Works Director Sean Kershaw, warning about expected heavy snow, possible rain and strong winds in the Twin Cities. “And so my advice to everybody is to, on Sunday and Monday, stay off the roads unless you have to, build yourself extra time — because we want to provide, you know, time and space for the plow drivers to do the work that they need to do and to not have cars get stuck.”
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Winter weather advisories for the first round of snow expired Friday morning across central Minnesota. Winter storm watches for the second storm go into effect for most of the state starting late Saturday or early Sunday, and extending into Monday and Tuesday.
The National Weather Service said a second, prolonged storm could drop 6 to 12 inches of snow across much of the state, with locally higher amounts.
MPR News will have updates on the forecast on-air and online through the weekend.
Share your snow photos with us! Send them to tell@mpr.org and let us know where you took the photo.
Road conditions
The Minnesota Department of Transportation reported snow-covered roads Friday across about the southern two-thirds of Minnesota.
There were 175 crashes between 5 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday, according to the State Patrol. Nineteen had injuries, and one crash in Freeborn County between a Freightliner and pickup truck killed a 54-year-old. The slick conditions caused 101 spinouts and three semis to jackknife.
Many roads were pre-treated with brine ahead of the snow, which assisted snow-removal efforts on Friday.
The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was busier than usual with spring break traffic Friday. As of late morning, the airport was reporting about two dozen delayed flights — but most flights were arriving and departing on time.
There were no reports of widespread power outages as of late Friday morning.
School delays
The snow prompted some Minnesota school districts to delay the start of classes on Friday.
Districts running on a two-hour delay included Dassel-Cokato, Eden Valley-Watkins, Kimball, Maple Lake, Rocori and St. Cloud.
In Wisconsin, the Hudson and Osceola school districts were also running on a two-hour delay Friday.
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 and 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: