As the countdown continues to the Minnesota Twins' fifth season under open skies, several inches of snow are in the forecast late in the week for the Twin Cities and surrounding communities.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has put at 60 to 70 percent the chances for plowable snow for all of the metro and points north and east into western Wisconsin.
Temperatures envisioned this week by the NWS will top out no higher than the lower 40s and spend a lot of time in the 30s, helping to keep snow in the Twin Cities' future longer than winter-weary residents care to think about.
Early Tuesday, freezing rain just south of the metro turned roads into skating rinks and led to a jackknifed semi that caused an extended closure of I-35 near Northfield and a traffic jam that lasted for hours.
The truck slid sideways about 5:40 a.m. and blocked lanes at milepost 71. That brought traffic to a standstill with some motorists caught in the backup for more than an hour.
Many motorists exited at the Hwy. 19 ramps to Northfield and used a frontage road to continue their northward journey.
One lane was reopened by 7:30 a.m., but the massive traffic backup persisted for a while. Both lanes were reopened by shortly after 8 a.m.
MnDOT listed roads as being in difficult condition in places such as Lakeville, Farmington, Elko, Northfield and Faribault.
