At 10:30 this morning, the city of Minneapolis released a figure that was at once astonishing and unsurprising.

The figure? The number of cars -- 750 -- towed overnight for breaking winter parking rules.

Minneapolis and St. Paul announced snow emergencies that began Sunday night so they could clean up after a weekend storm that dropped 4.5 inches on the Twin Cities, buried the North Shore and caused a slew of traffic accidents around the state.

And even though the city announced its snow emergency on the Web, made 110,000 phone calls, sent 19,000 e-mails (and several hundred text messages), and encouraged residents to remind neighbors, Minneapolis is expecting to ticket as many as 10,000 vehicles and tow 1,500 to 2,000 before plowing ends Tuesday.

So while commuters should expect clear freeways, many city streets will be more rough than ready.

Mike Kennedy, who is in charge of snow removal for Minneapolis, said the city could plow its pavement in two-thirds the time if it weren't for the scofflaws.

"It's not about solving a plowing problem, it's about solving a parking problem," he said Sunday.

Informing the public and getting the public to act can be two different things, said city spokesman Matt Laible. During previous snow emergencies, Laible said, city staffers have gone to the impound lot to survey drivers whose cars had been towed. While many said they didn't know about the emergency, there are "a good share who do know." They either misunderstood the rules (which change every 12 hours) or gambled that the tow trucks would pass them by.

The traditional method of dialing 612-348-SNOW for updates is still available, but the city no longer sits by the phone and waits for you to call. Instead, it calls every household in the city with a listed number, save for those who have opted out, plus cell-phone users and anyone else who has signed up.

Laible is hoping more people will register for e-mail and text-messaging services, though he notes that it can take a couple of days to get your information in the system -- signing up on the morning of a snowstorm probably won't do it.

St. Paul employs a similar range of services, although its streets are plowed 24 hours after the snow emergency begins; Minneapolis' snow emergencies last twice as long.

The cities often coordinate the start of their emergencies, Kennedy said, and they considered declaring this snow emergency a day earlier. But snow was still falling, and it's tricky to get the word out on a Saturday afternoon, when people are often out and about. And having the bulk of the snow emergency fall on Monday and Tuesday is helpful because many drivers take their cars to work, getting them off residential streets.

Around the state

While the core cities were ramping up their plowing, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, which takes care of major highways, was in cleanup mode Sunday, hauling snow off bridge decks and touching up slick spots. "Things are looking really good throughout the metro area," Kent Barnard, a MnDOT spokesman, said.

Weekend road conditions across the middle of the state got a favorable review from Heather and Neil Wagner, Vikings fans, who made it from their home near Brainerd to the home of friends in Woodbury in about three hours during the snow.

The keys to winter driving, said Heather, are to have four-wheel drive, wear your seat belt, and not let your husband drive too fast. If your guy fails to comply, she said, "that's when the girl puts her foot down" -- Heather wanted to spend her Sunday afternoon at the Metrodome, not the hospital or somewhere worse.

As of Sunday morning, the State Patrol recorded more than 100 spinouts and another 400 vehicles that went off the road, in addition to 390 property-damage incidents and 44 personal-injury accidents. There were no fatalities, and none of the injuries was serious, said Lt. Mark Peterson.

The Wagners saw some spinouts, especially between St. Cloud and the Twin Cities, but weren't too surprised.

"It's the first snow," said Heather, noting that it was a fairly significant amount. "Nobody knows how to drive yet."

Jim Foti • 612-673-4491