Snow causing difficult travel across Minnesota, snow emergencies issued for Minneapolis and St. Paul
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Steady snow that started falling overnight continued Thursday across a wide swath of Minnesota, causing difficult driving conditions and prompting many schools to cancel or delay classes — or end classes early.
Some cities — including Minneapolis and St. Paul — have declared snow emergencies.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation was reporting snow-covered highways across most of the state as of midday — including the Twin Cities.
Parts of the state had received more than a half-foot of snow by midday, with snow still falling — including 7.3 inches near Montgomery; 7.2 inches near Dennison; 7 inches at Holt, New Prague and Kellogg; and 6.8 inches at Bird Island.
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Other snow reports relayed by the National Weather Service as of Thursday evening included 6.5 inches at St. Peter; 6.2 inches in Minnesota City and Victoria; and 6 inches at Millville, Red Wing and Chanhassen.
The official total at the Twin Cities airport as of 6 p.m. was 5.2 inches.
By 5 a.m. there were already reports of crashes and spinouts on freeways in the Twin Cities — and conditions worsened through the morning rush hour. The State Patrol reported 470 crashes on state highways between midnight and 8:30 p.m. Thursday — 38 of those resulting in injuries. There were also more than 280 spinouts and vehicles off the road, and 30 jackknifed semis.
Metro Transit was reporting delays on a third of its bus routes in the Twin Cities as of midday, with an average delay of about 10 minutes. That was down from delays on 60 percent of routes earlier in the day.
The snow was also causing increasing delays for flights to and from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The FAA initially issued an advisory about a ground delay at MSP; then, just before 9 a.m., it issued a ground stop due to snow and ice. That expired at 10:15 a.m.
The airport was reporting more than 170 delayed or canceled flights as of Thursday afternoon.
Beauty ‘to play in’
For some, the snow meant getting to work on clearing sidewalks, driveways and stairs.
"I was very pleased to see that it's just the right amount and the right consistency, so the snow blower takes care of it,” Jim Ingemunson said while piloting his electric machine. “So many times, the snow is thick and heavy and wet. You push the snowblower and it just doesn't do it. But this is perfect."
Others saw an opportunity to play.
"I am taking an early lunch break to go out for a little ski before they plow the roads,” said Amy Squire, as she glided over the untouched powder in Cherokee Park in St. Paul.
"It's actually kind of fun to be able to just throw the skis on and go,” Squire said. “I am that person that loves a good snow.”
Kate Scanlan brought her dog Mel to the High Bridge Dog Park on the Mississippi River. He wiggled as he waited for the gate to open.
"He loves it,” she said. “We both do. I mean, this is what we've been waiting for. If it's going to be cold, we need some beauty, something to play in."
As Scanlan opened the gate Mel bolted, quickly finding three other dogs who bounced around as their bundled-up humans watched.
Merle Geode brought their Australian Shepherd mix, U-jin — who resembles the cartoon character Bluey. U-jin dashed after tossed tennis balls, sometimes losing track of them.
“The scent work is also really stimulating, too, when he has to go through the snow and find it," Geode said.
Every few tosses U-jin stopped to gulp snow, another benefit of the season.
Snow emergencies
Some cities across Minnesota — including Minneapolis, St. Paul and several Twin Cities suburbs — declared snow emergencies, meaning special parking rules are in effect to allow plows to full clear streets. Find a list of those communities below.
In Minneapolis, snow emergencies last three days. There’s no parking on snow emergency routes from 9 p.m. Thursday until 8 a.m. Friday — or until they’re fully plowed. Find a map showing snow emergency routes here.
Starting at 8 a.m. Friday, there’s no parking on the even-numbered side of non-snow emergency routes — or on either side of parkways — until 8 p.m. Friday or until that side of the street is fully plowed.
And starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, there’s no parking on the odd-numbered side of non-snow emergency routes until 8 p.m. Saturday, or until that side of the street is fully plowed.
In St. Paul, vehicles not removed from night plow routes — that includes all downtown streets and other streets with “night plow route” signs posted — by 9 p.m. Thursday will be ticketed and towed. Find a map of night plow routes here.
Then, starting at 8 a.m. Friday, there’s no parking on day plow routes — that’s any street NOT marked with “night plow route” signs. Vehicles left on those streets after 8 a.m. Friday, and before they’re cleared to the curb, will be ticketed and towed.
The snow emergency remains in effect in St. Paul until 9 p.m. Monday.
School delays and closures
Brainerd, Fergus Falls, Hutchinson, Little Falls, Stillwater and Waconia were among the school districts that canceled classes Thursday. Several dozen other districts moved to online learning or were operating on a two-hour delay. Those schools are listed below.
Some districts that initially were on a two-hour delay, moved to online learning or a closure for the day due to worsening road conditions. Some others that didn’t close, decided to end classes early.
Classes were held as scheduled in Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools — but both districts canceled most after-school activities Thursday.
In Minneapolis that included sporting events, early childhood programs and adult education classes. In St. Paul that included extended day learning and middle school sports. The district said some high school sporting events and community ed classes might still take place.
Winter storm warnings continue through Thursday evening from the Red River Valley south and east to Willmar, St. Cloud, the Twin Cities and Winona. To the north and south of the warning area, much of the rest of Minnesota is under winter weather advisories.
The National Weather Service said another 1 to 3 inches of snow is possible Thursday afternoon and evening, on top of what already has fallen.
Find forecast updates on MPR Weather’s Updraft blog.
Snow emergencies for Thursday-Friday, Dec. 19-20
Check city websites for more information on snow emergency parking rules.
Bloomington
Brooklyn Park
Crystal
Faribault
Hudson, Wis.
Le Sueur
Minneapolis
Morris
New Ulm
Northfield
Plymouth
Richfield
St. Paul
Wabasha
Wayzata
School closings and delays for Thursday, Dec. 19
Closing early
Anoka-Hennepin — middle and high schools ending classes early; more info
Badger — closing at 12:30p
Caledonia — closing at 1:15p
Canby — closing at 12:30p (elementary school) / 12:45p (high school)
Dawson-Boyd — closing at 1p
Houston — closing at 1p
Lac qui Parle Valley — closing at 12:30p
Lake Benton — closing at 1p
Lewiston-Altura — closing at 1:15p
Lynd — closing at 1p
Mabel-Canton — closing at 1p
Minneota — closing at 12:15p
Mountain Lake — closing at 12:45p
Murray County Central — closing at 1p
Ortonville — closing at 12:45p
Osseo — some schools closing early; more info
Plainview-Elgin-Millville — closing at 1:15p
Richfield — closing early; more info
Sleepy Eye — closing at 11:30a
Spring Grove — closing at 1:15p
Springfield — closing at 1p
Thief River Falls — closing at 2p
Winona Area — closing 2 hours early
Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools are ending classes at their normal time, but have canceled after-school activities
Closed
Annandale
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City
Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa
Belle Plaine
Bertha-Hewitt
Brainerd
Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart
Cedar Mountain
Central Public Schools (Norwood Young America)
Chokio-Alberta
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley
Dassel-Cokato
Ellsworth, Wis.
Fergus Falls
Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop
Glencoe-Silver Lake
Hancock
Henning
Hill-Murray
Hutchinson
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted
Hudson, Wis.
Jordan
Kimball Area
Lake Park Audubon
Lanesboro
Le Sueur-Henderson
Little Falls
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle
Madelia
Menahga
New Prague Area (blended learning day for K-5)
Onamia
Osakis
Pelican Rapids
River Falls, Wis.
St. Croix Lutheran
Sibley East
Somerset, Wis.
Stillwater
Tri-City United
Wabasha-Kellogg
Waconia
West Central Area
E-learning day
Ada-Borup-West
Battle Lake
Benson
BOLD
Breckenridge
Detroit Lakes
East Grand Forks
Eden Valley-Watkins
Fosston
Frazee-Vergas
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg
Lakeview
Lester Prairie
Litchfield
MACCRAY
Marshall
Marshall County Central
Milroy
Morris Area
New London-Spicer
New York Mills
Norman County East
Parkers Prairie
Paynesville
Perham
Pierz
Prescott, Wis.
Red Lake County Central
Red Lake Falls
Renville County West
Rothsay
St. James
St. Peter
Sebeka
Swanville
Ulen-Hitterdal
Underwood
Wabasso
Wadena-Deer Creek
Watertown-Mayer
Waubun-Ogema-White Earth
Wheaton
Willmar
Two-hour delay
Aitkin
Alexandria
Ashby
Becker
Big Lake
Blackduck
Brandon-Evansville
Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose
Butterfield-Odin
Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial
Maple Lake
Melrose Area
Minnesota State Community and Technical College — Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, Moorhead and Wadena campuses opening at 10a
Minnesota West Community and Technical College — Granite Falls campus opening at 10a
Minnewaska Area
Montevideo
Monticello
Northland Community & Technical College — campus opening at 10a
Pequot Lakes
Pillager
Pine River-Backus
Red Rock Central
St. Michael-Albertville
Sauk Centre
Tracy Area
University of Minnesota Crookston — reduced operations until 10a
Verndale
Yellow Medicine East
Forecast updates
MPR News: Live weather blog and real-time radar
National Weather Service: Snowfall reports
Travel conditions
These state transportation departments offer live updates on road conditions and crashes:
For bus and light rail riders in the Twin Cities, Metro Transit offers weather-related updates on its Metro Transit and Metro Transit Alerts Twitter pages, as well as on its website.
Flight updates
If you’re planning to fly from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport or another airport around the region — or if you are expecting visitors to arrive by plane — airports offer flight status updates online:
