Snow brings hundreds of crashes, spinouts to Minnesota roads
Why is the first wintry commute of the year such a struggle?
Forecast lows Tuesday night into early Wednesday.
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If you like wearing sweatshirts and jackets over your Halloween costume, you won’t mind Tuesday's forecast. For the rest of us, Minnesota proves to be the worst place in the world for trick-or-treaters, with temperatures expected to drop as low as 15 degrees in parts of the state.
A few inches of snow overnight and into the morning snarled traffic across the state, causing over 300 crashes and spinouts on Minnesota highways. MPR News guest host Nina Moini talked with Anne Meyer of MnDOT for details on Halloween road conditions.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING] NINA MOINI: The weather does lead our show today. If you like wearing sweatshirts and jackets over or maybe under your Halloween costume, you're going to like tonight's forecast. For the rest of us, Minnesota proves to be the worst place in the world for trick or treaters. Saint Paul first grader Marisa Gage said it best back in 1996.
MARISA GAGE: I hear that it's going to be pretty gosh cold. It's going to be about-- I'm just going to take a guess-- probably 30 under zero today or pretty chilly out there.
CHRIS ROBERTS: Wow, if it gets down to 30 below, that's going to be really cold. I hope it doesn't get down that far below zero. I'm looking at your costume, and it seems like you'll be relatively warm. Do you think your mom is going to make you wear a coat over it or something?
MARISA GAGE: I think that my mom might make me wear something under the costume so people can see the costume so I might scare them. But so far, I'm pretty hot in here, but when I went outside this morning to get to my car, I didn't feel anything because I had a coat on and mittens and all sorts of that stuff. But it looked pretty cool because I could see my breath.
NINA MOINI: [LAUGHS] Smart kid. Well, things don't look much better for trick or treaters and their guardians tonight, with temperatures expected to drop as low as 15 degrees in parts of the state. A few inches of snow overnight and into the morning did cause some traffic issues across the state, causing over 300 crashes and spinouts on Minnesota highways. For more details on Halloween road conditions, Anne Meyer with MnDOT is on the line. Welcome to Minnesota Now, Anne.
ANNE MEYER: Thank you. Hello.
NINA MOINI: Hello. I guess this is sort of an every year tradition when we get to hear from MnDOT on how the first snow went. I know we had between 2 and 3 inches of snow in much of the metro. How are the roads doing right now, Anne?
ANNE MEYER: Yeah, we're seeing a lot of improvement out there, in part because this time of year, we do get some help with warmer temperatures. So our road temps are really helping to melt away the snow that did fall. So I'm looking at our 511 website right now. All highways in the Twin Cities metro area are back in the green.
And we continue to see that improvement, in part because, again, this time of year, that road temp, even though our temperatures are hovering around the 30s right now, I've looked at some of our weather centers, and it looks like the road temp is in the 40s. So that's going to help us really clear off whatever snow still out there and keep things dry.
But of course, 2 to 3 inches of snow not a lot for our crews to push around, but they were out there overnight, really, dealing with those challenges. We had some wind that was a factor. Those colder temps really hit overnight. And that's when we saw some slick spots. And I'll tell you, it doesn't take much to get it slick out there. So it's really a good reminder for all of us to put on our winter driving caps and get ready for the season ahead.
NINA MOINI: Oh, yeah, definitely. And you mentioned you're sort of keeping an eye on the road conditions. Tell us again how you're able to do that, to keep a real-time eye on the roads.
ANNE MEYER: Yeah, we really encourage travelers to utilize our 511 MN traveler alert system. So this is a website and also a smartphone app. So you can see a lot of features on that. You can see road conditions. Green means you're in the clear. Blue means partially covered. Pink means that it's completely covered with snow. And that will adjust over time. But there's also some other features that I think are really handy tools for folks to use. That includes our highway cameras.
Right now, our snow globe cameras aren't working. We are trying to get that fixed in the system, but those both can really show you what conditions look like out there. We've got some weather stations. This is where I get the details about the surface temperature of the highway. All of those details can really help you make the best travel decisions for your day. So we want you to plan ahead. We want you to know before you go, so that you can take in that information and really make some adjustments to your travel if need be.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, to look before you go is really a good idea. So it seems like this first snowfall seems to create really difficult conditions, even though you mentioned 2 to 3 inches doesn't seem like a ton, and it's not exactly sticking to the roads. Why do you think that first snow tends to do this to all of us?
ANNE MEYER: We're so used to those dry roads for many, many months after our last season. But we're getting back into it, and that means you have to be prepared. Slick spots-- we've got some traditional trouble spots out there. That's ramps, bridges, overpasses. Those have colder road temps, so they're impacted by that snow and cold a little bit more than other areas of the highway. And that differential can sometimes make a big difference. You can be going at a pretty good rate on the road, but then go over an overpass and catch a little slick spot, and that can be an issue.
We want folks to slow down. Keep a good distance between yourself and other drivers. This time of year, we can't make those quick decisions on the roadway because of the road conditions underneath, and we've got some slick spots out there. So it's just reminding all of us to get ready for that next season. And goodness, if you don't have to be out there, if you can postpone your travel, it helps us out a ton.
The less traffic that's out there, which I know isn't easy for everybody, but if you can make some of those adjustments, especially when it's snowing out there, it can help us out a lot because some of our worst travel times are really that second round of snow that came in. Goodness, 2:00 to 3:00 in the morning into that early part of the morning commute. So we had a lot of blowing snow out there, some visibility issues, and some slick spots. And if you're not planning ahead, it might catch you off guard.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, take advantage of that. Work from home if you can. And this is always a great reminder. Anne Meyer with MnDOT, thank you so much. We'll keep watching weather conditions here on MPR News. And for more of that delightful archive audio you heard at the beginning, head to archive.mpr.org. Thanks so much, Anne.
MARISA GAGE: I hear that it's going to be pretty gosh cold. It's going to be about-- I'm just going to take a guess-- probably 30 under zero today or pretty chilly out there.
CHRIS ROBERTS: Wow, if it gets down to 30 below, that's going to be really cold. I hope it doesn't get down that far below zero. I'm looking at your costume, and it seems like you'll be relatively warm. Do you think your mom is going to make you wear a coat over it or something?
MARISA GAGE: I think that my mom might make me wear something under the costume so people can see the costume so I might scare them. But so far, I'm pretty hot in here, but when I went outside this morning to get to my car, I didn't feel anything because I had a coat on and mittens and all sorts of that stuff. But it looked pretty cool because I could see my breath.
NINA MOINI: [LAUGHS] Smart kid. Well, things don't look much better for trick or treaters and their guardians tonight, with temperatures expected to drop as low as 15 degrees in parts of the state. A few inches of snow overnight and into the morning did cause some traffic issues across the state, causing over 300 crashes and spinouts on Minnesota highways. For more details on Halloween road conditions, Anne Meyer with MnDOT is on the line. Welcome to Minnesota Now, Anne.
ANNE MEYER: Thank you. Hello.
NINA MOINI: Hello. I guess this is sort of an every year tradition when we get to hear from MnDOT on how the first snow went. I know we had between 2 and 3 inches of snow in much of the metro. How are the roads doing right now, Anne?
ANNE MEYER: Yeah, we're seeing a lot of improvement out there, in part because this time of year, we do get some help with warmer temperatures. So our road temps are really helping to melt away the snow that did fall. So I'm looking at our 511 website right now. All highways in the Twin Cities metro area are back in the green.
And we continue to see that improvement, in part because, again, this time of year, that road temp, even though our temperatures are hovering around the 30s right now, I've looked at some of our weather centers, and it looks like the road temp is in the 40s. So that's going to help us really clear off whatever snow still out there and keep things dry.
But of course, 2 to 3 inches of snow not a lot for our crews to push around, but they were out there overnight, really, dealing with those challenges. We had some wind that was a factor. Those colder temps really hit overnight. And that's when we saw some slick spots. And I'll tell you, it doesn't take much to get it slick out there. So it's really a good reminder for all of us to put on our winter driving caps and get ready for the season ahead.
NINA MOINI: Oh, yeah, definitely. And you mentioned you're sort of keeping an eye on the road conditions. Tell us again how you're able to do that, to keep a real-time eye on the roads.
ANNE MEYER: Yeah, we really encourage travelers to utilize our 511 MN traveler alert system. So this is a website and also a smartphone app. So you can see a lot of features on that. You can see road conditions. Green means you're in the clear. Blue means partially covered. Pink means that it's completely covered with snow. And that will adjust over time. But there's also some other features that I think are really handy tools for folks to use. That includes our highway cameras.
Right now, our snow globe cameras aren't working. We are trying to get that fixed in the system, but those both can really show you what conditions look like out there. We've got some weather stations. This is where I get the details about the surface temperature of the highway. All of those details can really help you make the best travel decisions for your day. So we want you to plan ahead. We want you to know before you go, so that you can take in that information and really make some adjustments to your travel if need be.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, to look before you go is really a good idea. So it seems like this first snowfall seems to create really difficult conditions, even though you mentioned 2 to 3 inches doesn't seem like a ton, and it's not exactly sticking to the roads. Why do you think that first snow tends to do this to all of us?
ANNE MEYER: We're so used to those dry roads for many, many months after our last season. But we're getting back into it, and that means you have to be prepared. Slick spots-- we've got some traditional trouble spots out there. That's ramps, bridges, overpasses. Those have colder road temps, so they're impacted by that snow and cold a little bit more than other areas of the highway. And that differential can sometimes make a big difference. You can be going at a pretty good rate on the road, but then go over an overpass and catch a little slick spot, and that can be an issue.
We want folks to slow down. Keep a good distance between yourself and other drivers. This time of year, we can't make those quick decisions on the roadway because of the road conditions underneath, and we've got some slick spots out there. So it's just reminding all of us to get ready for that next season. And goodness, if you don't have to be out there, if you can postpone your travel, it helps us out a ton.
The less traffic that's out there, which I know isn't easy for everybody, but if you can make some of those adjustments, especially when it's snowing out there, it can help us out a lot because some of our worst travel times are really that second round of snow that came in. Goodness, 2:00 to 3:00 in the morning into that early part of the morning commute. So we had a lot of blowing snow out there, some visibility issues, and some slick spots. And if you're not planning ahead, it might catch you off guard.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, take advantage of that. Work from home if you can. And this is always a great reminder. Anne Meyer with MnDOT, thank you so much. We'll keep watching weather conditions here on MPR News. And for more of that delightful archive audio you heard at the beginning, head to archive.mpr.org. Thanks so much, Anne.
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