Plows pulled from highways, no travel advised across much of Minnesota amid blizzard conditions
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A major winter storm swept into Minnesota on Sunday, bringing blizzard conditions on what was expected to be one of the busiest travel days of the holiday season.
Snowplows were pulled off highways in parts of the state due to poor visibility, with heavy snow accompanied by winds gusting to more than 50 mph at times. Several cities, including Minneapolis, declared snow emergencies.
The National Weather Service Twin Cities office warned of “dangerous, potentially life-threatening travel conditions” through the day Sunday into Monday morning — and said anyone with travel plans across the region should consider making alternate arrangements.
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Gov. Tim Walz on Sunday evening authorized the Minnesota National Guard to help support the emergency response to the storm.
“The state has received a request for National Guard assistance from the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office to provide the personnel, equipment, facilities, and resources necessary to respond to the severe weather and rescue stranded motorists,” the governor’s office reported. Freeborn County includes stretches of Interstates 35 and 90 near Albert Lea.
As of Sunday night, steady snow continued to fall across much of the state, with winds gusting to near 50 mph. The Minnesota Department of Transportation was advising no travel across much of the southern half of the state — including all of southwest and south-central Minnesota. Highways under the no-travel advisory as of Sunday night included:
Interstate 35 between the Northfield exit and the Iowa border
Interstate 90 between the South Dakota border and the Highway 43/Winona exit
U.S. Highway 12 between Kerkhoven and Cokato
U.S. Highway 14 between the South Dakota border and Winona
U.S. Highway 52 between Pine Island and the Iowa border
U.S. Highway 59 between Milan and the Iowa border
U.S. Highway 61 between Lake City and Winona
U.S. Highway 71 between Belgrade the Iowa border
U.S. Highway 75 between Odessa and the Iowa border
U.S. Highway 169 between Henderson and the Iowa border
U.S. Highway 212 between the South Dakota border and Norwood Young America
State Highway 23 between Interstate 90 and Paynesville
State Highway 60 between Mankato and the Iowa border
A series of crashes caused the closure of southbound I-35 between Owatonna and Albert Lea for much of Sunday afternoon and evening. Southbound I-35 was also closed south of Albert Lea after Iowa transportation officials closed a long stretch of the freeway in that state — in both directions — on Sunday afternoon. The Iowa closure was expected to remain in effect overnight.
In Minnesota, MnDOT said its no-travel advisories would also remain in place overnight, to be re-evaluated Monday morning. The agency also said snowplows would be taken off highways in south-central Minnesota after dark Sunday night, and resume operations early Monday.
In Blue Earth County, including Mankato, the sheriff’s office reported just after noon that county snowplows “have been pulled from the roads due to dangerously poor visibility. Plows will resume operations tomorrow morning when visibility improves and it is safe to do so.”
To the west in Cottonwood County, including Windom, county plows were also kept off the roads Sunday due to whiteout conditions.
Elsewhere across western, central and southern Minnesota — including the Twin Cities — travel was difficult amid quickly accumulating snow. Many people changed travel plans, including Dolly Ludden of St. Paul. She’d been staying at a cabin in Isanti, but decided to return to the city when she heard about the big storm.
“I didn’t want to get locked in up there,” she said.
Most drivers on southbound Interstate 35 headed into the Twin Cities were traveling far below the speed limit due to road conditions and weather. “Coming down the freeway, I think everyone was doing about 40,” Ludden said. “I did see one vehicle off the road already, tipped on its side. So they probably hit some ice or something.”
The State Patrol reported more than 300 crashes on state and federal highways across Minnesota between midnight and 5 p.m. Sunday — along with more than 275 spinouts or vehicles off the road, and 16 jackknifed semis.
“Please delay or cancel travel plans until the storm has passed,” the Patrol reported in an early afternoon social media post.
Metro Transit was reporting delays on close to half of its Twin Cities bus routes as of midday, though average delays were less than 10 minutes. As of Sunday night, the percentage of delayed routes was down to about a third.
Mankato Transit suspended its operations for the day at 3 p.m. Sunday, citing unsafe driving conditions.
While the storm caused a lot of headaches for travelers, its timing during the holiday break also means plenty of time for sledding, skiing and other winter fun for kids and families across the region over the next few days.
Flight cancellations
At Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, officials were expecting more than 50,000 people to pass through security checkpoints on Sunday — one of the two busiest days of the holiday travel season.
As of Sunday evening, more than 375 flights had been delayed or canceled. The airport called in extra workers to clear snow.
“We have a full crew callout as we normally would do in a situation like this,” said Jeff Lea, a Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesperson. ”That means hundreds of personnel and our contractors are actively clearing the runways, taxiways, ramp areas and the public side of the airport.”
Air travel across the country was snarled through the weekend as winter weather affected various parts of the U.S.
“Weather events around the country have a ripple effect on many airports when there's a cancellation,” Lea said. “Flyers should just recognize that they should keep in contact with their airline.”
Snow emergencies
Several Minnesota cities — including Minneapolis — declared snow emergencies, to give public works crews time to clear snow from city streets.
The snow emergency in Minneapolis follows a multi-day schedule, with varying parking rules:
9 p.m. Sunday to 8 a.m. Monday: Do not park on either side of a snow emergency route until 8 a.m., or until the street is fully plowed. Snow emergency routes are marked with signs. The city also has an online map of all snow emergency routes.
From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday: Do not park on the even-numbered side of a non-snow emergency route until 8 p.m., or until that side of the street is fully plowed. For parkways, do not park on either side until 8 p.m., or until the parkway is fully plowed.
From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday: Do not park on the odd-numbered side of a non-snow emergency route until 8 p.m., or until that side of the street is fully plowed.
Other cities declaring snow emergencies included Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Byron, Crystal, Eden Prairie, Hopkins, New Hope, North Mankato, St. James, St. Louis Park, Wabasha and West St. Paul. Check with your city’s website or social media pages for snow emergency status and timing.
As of 8 p.m. Sunday, the city of St. Paul had not declared a snow emergency.
Heavy snow, gusty winds
The National Weather Service reported heavy snow and winds gusting to 53 mph at St. James just after noon, with near-zero visibility. Fairmont also reported a wind gust of more than 50 mph on Sunday afternoon.
For the Twin Cities, Faribault and Red Wing into western Wisconsin — a wintry mix changed over to snow through the morning hours Sunday. The snow was forecast to continue — heavy at times — during the afternoon and evening. Snow totals of 7-10 inches are expected by Monday morning, with locally higher amounts.
To the west, total snowfall was expected to be somewhat less — but northwest winds gusting to 45 mph will cause whiteout conditions.
Blizzard warnings are in place from the Red River Valley south and southeast to St. Cloud, Willmar, the far western Twin Cities metro, Worthington, Redwood Falls, Mankato, Rochester and Albert Lea — extending into parts of northern Iowa.
Temperatures tumbled through the day Sunday, with subzero wind chills expected across the region on Monday.
The National Weather Service in La Crosse said the snow is likely to start as the wet and heavy variety, before changing to lighter, fluffier snow as temperatures fall. That will increase the risk for blowing and drifting snow.
Find forecast updates on MPR Weather’s Updraft blog.
Forecast updates
MPR News: Real-time radar
National Weather Service: Snowfall reports
Travel updates
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:
