Blizzard drops more than 2 feet of snow on North Shore; challenging commute in Twin Cities
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Blizzard conditions pummeled Duluth and the North Shore on Wednesday, dropping more than two feet of snow and knocking out power to thousands.
A weather spotter in Hovland, in Cook County, reported 34 inches of snow as of late Wednesday afternoon — with snow still falling.
The same storm system also brought a burst of snow to southern Minnesota — including the Twin Cities — during the afternoon, causing a challenging commute.
There were crashes, spinouts and significant traffic delays on metro-area freeways during the late afternoon hours — and to the west, authorities were advising no travel across parts of southwest and south-central Minnesota due to whiteout conditions.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
In northeast Minnesota, the storm was bad enough that the Minnesota Department of Transportation took the rare step of closing Highway 61 between Duluth and the Canadian border early Wednesday due to whiteout conditions. The highway reopened by 7 a.m., but MnDOT continued to advise drivers to stay off the highway that hugs the shore of Lake Superior.
“If you don’t need to travel, please don’t. Even our drivers are struggling with it,” said MnDOT spokesperson Margie Nelson in Duluth. “(Let) them have the space to clear the roads as quickly as possible. If you are going to try and travel, make sure that you have a winter car kit, and just take it slow and easy. It’s going to be quite a challenge to get anywhere.”
Sections of State Highway 1 near Finland and Isabella were also closed for a time Wednesday morning. And authorities were also advising no travel on stretches of Interstate 35 between Sturgeon Lake and Duluth.
Rain that changed to snow also caused difficult driving in western Minnesota, with the State Patrol reporting spinouts and at least one jackknifed semi along Interstate 94. And whiteout conditions prompted MnDOT to issue no-travel advisories Wednesday afternoon from Granite Falls and Hutchinson south to New Ulm and Mankato.
Driving conditions across the region are forecast to improve by Thursday morning.
Power outages, snow totals
Winds gusted to more than 60 mph at the Duluth airport through most of the morning Wednesday. Those winds, combined with the concrete-like snow, knocked out power to more than 11,000 homes and businesses across the state as of 6:45 a.m. The number of outages continues to fluctuate through the morning; it was below 4,000 by 11 a.m., and below 2,000 by 3 p.m.
“We’ve been pretty consistently gusting around that 60 mph mark for a good chunk of the night here,” said Josh Sandstrom, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Duluth, on Wednesday morning. “Just a lot of blizzard conditions here, and it’s even worse up the North Shore.”
In addition to the 34-inch report from Hovland, snow reports relayed to the National Weather Service as of 4:45 p.m. Wednesday — with snow still falling — included 24.5 inches near Lutsen, 20 inches near Little Marais, and 9.2 inches near Chisholm. The Duluth airport reported 6.8 inches of snow as of midday. There were reports of some lightning amid the heavy snow overnight.
The band of snow in southern Minnesota dropped 4 to 6 inches of snow in the southern Twin Cities metro area as of Wednesday night.
Dozens of schools across central and northern Minnesota canceled classes or moved to online learning Wednesday, or delayed the start of classes. Find a complete list below.
Later in the morning, some districts in western Minnesota opted to send students home early, amid deteriorating driving conditions.
In addition to the 26 inches at Hovland, snow totals elsewhere on the North Shore by Thursday morning could reach 2 feet, with over a foot in the higher terrain near Duluth, and a half-foot or more across the rest of northern Minnesota.
To the south, rain changed over to snow Wednesday morning. The Twin Cities, Willmar and St. Cloud may see 2 to 4 inches by Wednesday night, with continued blizzard conditions possible in western Minnesota through the evening hours.
Find forecast updates on MPR Weather’s Updraft blog.
Dispatches from the North Shore
In Grand Marais, Java Moose coffee shop owner Sarah Jorgenson-Hallberg told Morning Edition, "we're not strangers to winter or to snow, and everyone sort of preplanned for this."
Even so, Jorgenson-Hallberg closed the coffee shop for the day to keep staff and customers off the roads.
"We've got shovels and snow blowers and plows all ready to go and, of course, backup generators and things like that for our homes, if needed,” she said.
Jorgenson-Hallberg's home overlooks Highway 61, which she says has been quiet amid the whiteout conditions. Her father was out plowing Wednesday morning and attested to the poor visibility.
"He recommended as well that we didn't open the shop just to keep our staff safe, and then also not have extra people out there moving around when the plow trucks will want to get out and get the snow removed as best they can," she added.
Silver Bay Mayor Wade LeBlanc was in St. Paul Tuesday for some meetings and decided to brave the drive back north Wednesday morning, but the conditions on Highway 61 might mean he's unable to make it past Duluth for now.
"I'll figure it out and stay with family or friends if it gets too bad, otherwise, I'm gonna try to get home and help out as much as I can," he told Morning Edition.
Silver Bay is in the bullseye of a forecast of 2 feet of snow, which is not an easy feat to dig out of.
"Our city crews are pretty good," LeBlanc said. "It just takes a little extra time, the more snow you got, or go it multiple times and stay ahead of it, right?"
School changes for Wednesday, Feb. 18
Some school districts that held classes on Wednesday, later announced plans to dismiss students early due to deteriorating road conditions. Check for updates from your local school district about the status of classes.
Closed
Cass Lake-Bena
Cherry
Clearbrook-Gonvick
Cook County
Crookston
Deer River
Ely
Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College
Grand Rapids Area
Hill City
Kelliher
Kittson Central
Lake Superior College
Littlefork-Big Falls
McGregor
Minnesota North College — Hibbing, Itasca, Eveleth and Virginia campuses
Mountain Iron-Buhl
Nashwauk-Keewatin
North Woods
Northeast Range
Northland Community and Technical College — all campuses
Northland-Remer
Proctor
Red Lake County Central
Red Lake Falls
Rock Ridge
South Ridge
Superior, Wis.
Thief River Falls
Tower-Soudan
University of North Dakota
Online learning days
Bagley
Barnum
Bemidji Area
Blackduck
Carlton
Chisholm
Cloquet
College of St. Scholastica
Cromwell-Wright
East Grand Forks
Esko
Fisher
Floodwood
Fond du Lac Ojibwe
Fosston
Goodridge
Hermantown
International Falls
Lancaster
Laporte
Mahnomen
Marshall County Central
Mesabi East
Nevis
Park Rapids
Roseau
University of Minnesota Crookston
University of Minnesota Duluth
University of Wisconsin-Superior
Walker Hackensack Akeley
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo
Warroad
Willow River Area
Win-E-Mac
Two-hour delay
Badger
Climax-Shelly
Detroit Lakes
East Central
Frazee-Vergas
Greenbush-Middle River
Henning
Hinckley-Finlayson
Menahga
New York Mills
Pelican Rapids
Perham
Pine River-Backus
Red Lake
Verndale
Wadena-Deer Creek
Waubun-Ogema-White Earth
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:
