Crashes, delays as winter storm brings snow, gusty winds to much of Minnesota

A steady stream of wet snow caused numerous accidents and significant traffic delays Tuesday across Minnesota.

After a light dusting of snow overnight, a clipper system ushered in freezing rain, heavy snow and gusty winds on Tuesday afternoon, complicating rush-hour commutes and making travel hazardous.

By midday, a mixed bag of precipitation — rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow — arrived in western Minnesota and began to move into the Twin Cities suburbs.

As of 6:30 p.m., the State Patrol reported 130 vehicle crashes on the state’s highways, with a dozen causing injuries. In addition to the spinouts and jackknifed semi trucks, the slippery conditions caused around 150 vehicles to slide off the road. In one crash on Interstate 94 in Monticello, four trucks and an SUV collided.

Heavy snow was recorded on most of the metro’s major arteries, causing delays. There were also about 130 flight delays reported at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

“Road conditions will continue to deteriorate due to snow and freezing rain over the coming hours,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

Snow began to taper off in the metro area later in the evening, leaving a layer of wet, heavy snow that added to the accumulation that has yet to melt in recent days. Despite the likely headache for motorists Wednesday morning, many metro schools didn’t appear to have pre-emptively canceled in-person classes for Wednesday.

“Be weather aware,” she said, noting precipitation could fall for 12 hours in some places.

Between 4 and 7 inches of snow were expected to fall in an area stretching from Little Falls, Minn., through the northern and eastern Twin Cities suburbs to Eau Claire, Wis., where a winter storm warning is in effect through Wednesday morning.

A winter weather advisory for the potential of 3 to 5 inches covered an area from Detroit Lakes and Fergus Falls southeast through the core of the metro area and extending to Rochester and Winona, the NWS said.

The heaviest snowfall was earlier expected to be along and north of I-94, said NWS meteorologist Caleb Grunzke.

By noon, Alexandria, Little Falls, St. Cloud, Hutchinson, Redwood Falls and Willmar were already feeling the effects.

“Travel is going to be bad,” Grunzke said. “I’d recommend against it.”

Metro Mobility, the door-to-door service for people with disabilities, warned that buses might run late.

“While we always strive to be on time, be prepared for your bus to arrive a little later than normal,” the Met Council said.

West St. Paul declared a snow emergency. New Hope and Brooklyn Park also called one, with more cities likely to follow.

Some schools also adjusted schedules. The Anoka-Hennepin School District released high school students 30 minutes early on Tuesday and middle school students 15 minutes early.

In greater Minnesota, Alexandria, Cannon Falls, Fergus Falls, Little Falls, McGregor, Pelican Rapids, St. Cloud and Willmar were among the districts sending students home early.

Combined with winds howling at up to 50 mph, blizzard conditions could develop from Albert Lea west to Worthington and north to Marshall. The area is covered by a winter storm watch, with a high wind warning for eight counties in far southwestern Minnesota.

The metro area, where winds could be as high as 35 mph, has picked up 11.2 inches of snow for the season as of Tuesday morning, slightly above the average of 10.5 inches for this point in the season.

The NWS predicted that there will be a break in the snow late Tuesday night, followed by light snow early Wednesday morning, before dangerously cold air arrives for the weekend.

By Friday night, lows could reach minus-10 degrees in the Twin Cities, and Saturday’s high may not reach above zero, Grunzke said.

Grunzke called the arctic blast “brutal.”

Temperatures should moderate by early next week with readings more typical of mid-December in the teens and 20s.