Just a little snow, rain and freezing rain fell across southern Minnesota on the first full day of winter, but it made for big problems for drivers.
Slick conditions sent semis and cars sliding off the roads and into each other Dec. 22. There were so many that Hwy. 212 was closed for several hours between Glencoe and Olivia due to icy conditions and multiple vehicles in the ditch, the McLeod County Sheriff’s Office said.
That stretch of highway reopened, as has a portion of Hwy. 19 between Henderson and Gaylord, though the Minnesota Department of Transportation warns it remains slippery and ice covered.
Temperatures warming into the 30s is helping melt the ice, and plows continue to put down sand, but drivers should still take caution and allow plenty of space between them and other motorists, MnDOT said.
The worst conditions at midmorning appear to be in an area from Hutchinson to New Ulm to Mankato.
“Troopers are responding to several crashes throughout the region,” said Sgt. Jesse Grabow with the State Patrol. “Roads are slippery. Frost and ice, obviously slick reminding folks to slow it down and drive with care.”
Slippery conditions led to a crash that had northbound Interstate 35 closed north of Albert Lea for several hours overnight, but the lanes were back open as of 6 a.m. Tough travel conditions continued all morning in the area. Several semis slid off the freeway between Albert Lea and Owatonna.
In the metro, two early crashes on Hwy. 52 in Coates in Dakota County had traffic inching along. By 10 a.m., roads in the Twin Cities were generally just wet or in normal condition, MnDOT’s traffic map showed.
