First snow brings a taste of winter

By TIM HARLOW, Star Tribune

Last update: November 7, 2008 - 4:12 PM

Cold air that moved in overnight and brought the first significant snowfall to the Twin Cities and the southern third of Minnesota today will hang around for the weekend.

Flurries are possible Saturday, but most of the accumulating snow should wrap up by late tonight, the National Weather Service said.

The strong storm that spun up a blizzard in North Dakota and South Dakota dropped 4.5 inches of snow in Madison, Minn., 4 inches in Brownton, 3 inches in places such as Morgan, Olivia, Lester Prairie and Prinsburg in central Minnesota. Places such as Mankato, Winthrop, Springfield and even Waconia just west of the Twin Cities picked up two inches. Southern and western suburbs of the Twin Cities had enough snow to turn lawns white, the Weather Service said.

There had been just enough light snow mixing with rain to cause a handful of spinouts on metro area roads this morning. One spinout on eastbound Interstate 94 near Brooklyn Blvd. snarled traffic in the area for about 30 minutes around 7 a.m., but , but generally things are "not bad, really," a spokesman for the Regional Traffic Management Center in Roseville said. "It just come down to decent tires on your car. So far this morning, it's been pretty uneventful."

The wet conditions prompted the Minnesota Department of Transportation to postpone work scheduled on Crosstown Hwy. 62 for this weekend. The Department of Natural Resources advised deer hunters heading out for this weekend's firearms opener to check road and trail conditions. The DNR said state forest roads and trails will likely be wet and some may be temporarily closed if saturated and susceptible to rutting.

On Thursday the low-pressure system moved into Minnesota whipping up winds clocked at 60 miles per hour in St. Paul, 45 mph in Lake Elmo and Eden Prairie. A gust of 76 mph blew off two heating and air conditioning units from the roof of a Brooklyn Park strip mall. No one at the mall at the intersection of 85th Avenue and Hwy. 252 was injured when the 76 mile per hour gust was reported at 11:48 a.m., said Mary Tan, a city of Brooklyn Park spokeswoman.

Brisk winds combined with lightly falling snow are expected to create reduced visibility today and tonight. At times visibility could be reduced to 1 mile or less, the Weather Service said.

A 30 percent chance of snow showers remains in the forecast for Saturday, but no accumulation is expected in the Twin Cities.

The storm system will move out Saturday night leaving partly cloudy skies for Sunday. Today's high in the Twin Cities will be 40 degrees, melting most of the snow that falls. Tonight's low will be around 31 with blustery conditions. Saturday calls for a high of 38 degrees and a low of 26 degrees.

The period Sunday through Thursday calls for partly sunny to mostly sunny conditions with highs in the 30s to near 40 and lows in the 20s, the Weather Service said.

Today's wintry weather arrives just ahead of Winter Hazard Awareness Week, which begins Monday. The Minnesota Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management will issue daily tips on preparing for and dealing with winter.

Minnesota's early snowfall pales to the mountains of snow that fell across the Northern Plains on Thursday and today.

Major North Dakota roads closed by a blizzard that tore through the region began reopening Friday, but freezing rain left thousands without power to the east, authorities said. In South Dakota, stranded vehicles continued to clog a major highway. In South Dakota, hardest hit by the blizzard on Thursday, authorities were struggling against the aftermath. The Highway Patrol worked through the night to rescue people stranded in their vehicles on snow-clogged highways in the western part of the state. Most were smart and stayed in their cars. Many had cell phones, Tom Dravland, state Department of Public Safety secretary, said Friday. About 300 people had been helped by Friday morning, authorities told reporters. But Interstate 90 remained clogged with 30 to 50 stuck, disabled or jackknifed semis, along with about 200 cars and other vehicles.

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