A coating of freezing rain was all it took to turn Twin Cities-area roads icy on Tuesday, Feb. 24, and scores of crashes and spinouts ensued.
By 1:30 p.m., the sun was out and temperatures warmed to near the freezing mark, melting the glaze that had turned roads treacherous. Roads were in good winter driving condition across the metro, but some roads in the east metro remained partly ice covered, the Minnesota Department of Transportation said.
The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory that remained in effect until 3 p.m. for southeastern Minnesota, including Rochester, Austin and Winona. An advisory covering central Minnesota and the metro expired at 1 p.m.
“While the precipitation shouldn’t last more than an hour or two, and will lead to only minor accumulations, take it slow and give yourself some extra time,” the Weather Service said earlier Tuesday. “This is more than enough to cause slippery roads and hazardous travel.”
And the Weather Service was right.
At noon, westbound Interstate 94 at the I-494/94 split in Maple Grove was closed as police worked to clear a jackknifed semi and a wreck that appears to have involved several other rigs, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
Traffic was sent south on I-494 and the detour was expected to be in place until 2 p.m., MnDOT said. But one lane opened about 12:30 p.m. with a major traffic jam behind the scene, MnDOT cameras showed. The freeway was fully reopened after 1 p.m.
Icy conditions made for tough going elsewhere Tuesday morning in the Twin Cities metro. In Chaska, police handled seven different crashes at the same time on Hwys. 41 and 212, which “are completely covered with ice,” the city’s Police Department said.
