Storm brings snow and crashes with ‘no warmup in sight’ in Minnesota

The first snowstorm of the season caused pain and fun. While winter weather advisories were removed, municipalities were beginning to declare snow emergencies.

Light snow continued to fall across much of Minnesota and was expected to last throughout Saturday.

Snow kept falling in northeast Minneapolis, erasing the progress Dan Brewers had made shoveling his sidewalk by midafternoon. Brewers said he’d been shoveling for about an hour, but called it a way to enjoy a “nice Saturday” in the snow.

“I’m not 100% surprised it has not stopped yet,” Brewers said.

Meanwhile in Columbia Heights, Kira Rekic watched as her son A.J. belly-flopped his way down the hill at Keyes Park. The earlier snowfall was only thick enough to coat smaller hills, the 11-year-old said. He’d been waiting for a heavier snowfall like the one Saturday.

Rekic, who took a couple of runs down the hill herself, looked on as A.J. raced a neighbor and shook her head as her other son, 8-year-old Iman, licked a fistful of snow.

“They have fun. I have fun,” Rekic said. “It’s good for them to get out of the house.”

Crashes and spinouts were reported in several locations, including the Twin Cities area, the Interstate 94 corridor and the southern part of the state, where snow totals were expected to reach 10 inches.

At points Saturday, delays at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport averaged more than 30 minutes, according to FlightAware. The airport reported nearly 40 flight cancellations and more than 100 delays by 3 p.m.

At least two cities declared a snow emergency by 5 p.m. Saturday. In New Hope, parking on all city streets will be banned from 2 a.m. Sunday. In Northfield, parking restrictions are in effect from 10 p.m. Saturday to 10 p.m. Sunday.

When all is said and measured, the Twin Cities area might see 2 to 5 inches, the National Weather Service (NWS) in Chanhassen said in an advisory update early Saturday, with the higher totals in the southern suburbs.

The storm blanketed the southern half of Minnesota with snow through midafternoon Saturday. As much as 7.5 inches of snow had fallen near the border with Iowa, said Jacob Beitlich, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

Warmer weather isn’t in line after the snowfall ceases, he said, and temperatures will drop to the single digits in the Twin Cities come Sunday. Most of the municipalities in the state will see their thermometers dip below zero.

“There’s really no warmup in sight here in the near term,” Beitlich said. “If anything, it’s going to be the opposite.”

Most of Minnesota saw its first legit snowfall of the season starting Tuesday. Before Saturday’s snowfall, a total of 3.1 inches of snow had fallen in the Twin Cities this season.