Blizzard conditions cause highway closures in Red River Valley
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State transportation officials in Minnesota and North Dakota closed highways in the Red River Valley on Sunday, as fresh snow and gusty winds combined to create blizzard conditions across the region.
Interstate 29 remained closed in both directions between Grand Forks and the Canadian border on Sunday night “due to blowing snow and zero visibility,” the North Dakota Department of Transportation reported. “Conditions are life-threatening.”
That stretch of the freeway reopened Monday morning.
The freeway had also been closed between Grand Forks and Fargo on Sunday afternoon, but that closure was lifted a few hours later.
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In Minnesota, MnDOT closed highways from Ada, Hendrum and Halstad north to East Grand Forks, Crookston, Warren, Karlstad and Hallock. That included stretches of U.S. Highways 2 and 75. Those highways were also back open by Monday morning.
As of Sunday night, light snow was still falling in parts of the Red River Valley, with northerly winds gusting to more than 40 mph. Weather stations were reporting near-zero visibility at times.
Blizzard warnings are in place for the Red River Valley, extending south to Morris and Ortonville, through Sunday night.
“Whiteout conditions are expected and will make travel treacherous and potentially life-threatening,” through the day on Sunday, the National Weather Service Grand Forks office reported.
Winter weather advisories covered much of the rest of western, central and southern Minnesota through Sunday night, for areas of blowing snow and reduced visibility. There were no advisories in place for the Twin Cities, but there were a flurry of crashes and spinouts amid light snow Sunday.
Sunday’s gusty winds will usher another shot of arctic air. Cold weather advisories, for wind chills in the 20s and 30s below zero, are in effect from Sunday night into Monday morning across Minnesota.
Temperatures on Monday may struggle to climb above zero for much of the region.
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:
