Snow continues across southern Minnesota during busy holiday travel weekend
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Highways across most of southern Minnesota were snow-covered and slippery Saturday, with snow forecast to continue falling through Saturday night and early Sunday.
It’s the second winter storm to sweep across the Midwest during this busy week of holiday travel.
While the first storm focused on central and northern Minnesota, the second storm will bring the greatest snow accumulations to southern Minnesota — extending south into Iowa, southern Wisconsin and Illinois.
The snow started Friday evening in southwest Minnesota and spread east overnight. By mid-afternoon on Saturday, the National Weather Service reported the following snow totals for the past 24 hours:
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Fairmont, 7.5 inches
New Richland, 6 inches
Harmony, 5 inches
St. Paul, 4.6 inches
Albert Lea, 4.5 inches
Windom, 4.2 inches
Bloomington, 2.8 inches
Find forecast details on the MPR weather Updraft blog.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation reported snow-covered highways across most of southern and west-central Minnesota on Saturday morning. That included all of Interstate 90, along with State Highway 60 between Worthington and Mankato.
Interstate 35 and U.S. Highway 52 south of the Twin Cities also were at least partially snow-covered.
Forecasters said Saturday will be a difficult travel day across much of the region — and that people traveling home from Thanksgiving gatherings may want to wait until Sunday, to give snowplows a chance to clear roads.
Unlike the slushy, concrete-like snow that fell across much of central and northern Minnesota on Tuesday and Wednesday, cooler temperatures mean this next round of snow will generally be the light, fluffy variety. Winds — while occasionally gusty — are not forecast to be as strong as they were during the storm earlier in the week.
Still, the Minnesota State Patrol warns of low visibility and slippery spots on the roads. Drivers are advised to slow down and increase their following distance.
“You, yourself, might be a very safe driver, but when that other vehicle in front of you that you're following starts to lose control, fishtails or spins out, are you going to be able to stop accordingly or to avoid the hazard that is just created?” said Sergeant Jesse Grabow, a spokesperson for the Minnesota State Patrol.
Grabow also recommended drivers turn on their headlights and taillights so others can spot them in traffic.
In the wake of Saturday’s snow, a blast of arctic air will move into the region for Sunday and the rest of next week — with subzero morning lows possible in parts of Minnesota.
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 social media pages, as well as on its website.
Is there is snow emergency in effect for St. Paul or Minneapolis? Find out on the city of St. Paul website, or the city of Minneapolis 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:
