A powerful late-winter storm continued to batter southern and eastern Minnesota on Wednesday, unleashing heavy snowfall, strong winds, and blizzard conditions across the region.
On Wednesday morning, Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime emergency and authorized the Minnesota National Guard to support local authorities in responding to the storm.
According to Walz’s office, the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance, asking for personnel, equipment, and facilities to help rescue stranded motorists.
“Minnesota is no stranger to winter weather, but conditions can quickly become unpredictable and dangerous,” Walz said in a news release. “As we work to alleviate the dangerous road conditions, the National Guard is stepping up to provide life-saving support.”
Many school districts, including some in the Twin Cities area, either canceled classes, delayed start times, or transitioned to online learning on Wednesday.
Metro Transit suspended bus service in the Twin Cities for about four hours, resuming operations shortly before 10 a.m. Both Minneapolis and St. Paul declared snow emergencies, implementing special parking restrictions to allow plows to fully clear the streets.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) shut down several highways in the southwestern and south-central regions of the state. This included long sections of Interstate 90 between Luverne and Albert Lea.
“If I-90 is bad enough to be closed, the surrounding roads are worse. Please stay home and stay safe,” Nobles County Emergency Management in southwest Minnesota posted late Tuesday.
State Highway 60 from the Iowa border to Mankato was also closed due to hazardous conditions.
Scott Morgan, assistant district engineer for maintenance operations at MnDOT’s District 7, which covers south-central Minnesota, told MPR’s Morning Edition that Tuesday’s rainfall created a layer of ice beneath the snow that accumulated overnight.
“We’ve still got people out in plows trying to get roads opened up again, but it’s an uphill battle. The visibility is really reduced, and as they’re plowing the snow, of course, it comes across, and makes it even worse for them as they’re on the roads,” Morgan said early Wednesday.
“Along I-90 there’s places where it’s glare ice out there,” he added. “We’ve got some drifts that are crossing the road, all the way across, that we’re trying to get broken open, too. It’s just a mess right now.”
Powerful Snowstorm Across Southern MinnesotaThe Minnesota State Patrol recorded more than 200 crashes and spinouts on highways across the state between midnight and 7 a.m. Wednesday.
According to snowfall reports compiled by the National Weather Service early Wednesday, Ellendale received 10.5 inches, Woodbury saw 10 inches, Apple Valley reported 8.5 inches, Kenyon recorded 7.5 inches, and Faribault measured 6 inches.
At the Twin Cities airport, the official snowfall total as of 6 a.m. stood at 7.4 inches. Wind gusts have exceeded 45 miles per hour, contributing to treacherous conditions.
Several school districts closed for the day, including Anoka-Hennepin, Mankato, and Rochester. St. Paul Public Schools switched to online learning, while Minneapolis Public Schools canceled in-person classes for pre-K through 5th grade, with grades 6-12 participating in e-learning.
“Middle and high school students must have an e-learning day in order to be sure that MPS meets the state-required instructional hours,” the district stated early Wednesday. A full list of school closures and delays is available below.
Blizzard warnings remain in effect until 3 p.m. Wednesday for southern Minnesota, while the Twin Cities metro area is under a winter storm warning until the same time. Additional weather updates can be found on MPR Weather’s Updraft blog.
Shortly before 6 a.m., Metro Transit announced it was suspending all Twin Cities bus services indefinitely due to dangerous road conditions.
Service resumed just before 10 a.m., though Metro Transit warned of continued delays. Light rail and Northstar commuter rail services remained operational.
At Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, more than 100 flights had been delayed or canceled as of 9:30 a.m. Airport officials noted that MSP’s snow removal crews had been working throughout the night to keep runways clear.
The combination of wet, heavy snow and wind gusts exceeding 50 mph has caused power outages across the region.
Utility providers in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas reported that more than 10,000 homes and businesses were without power as of 7:15 a.m. Wednesday. The number fluctuated throughout the morning as crews worked to repair existing outages while responding to new ones.
Xcel Energy reported that it had deployed around 500 workers in the field, “navigating challenging conditions to safely restore power as quickly as possible.”
“The workers report first to situations that threaten public safety, such as downed wires that are still energized, followed by the restoration jobs that will bring the largest number of customers back online at once.
The company expects to have power fully restored to all customers by 4 PM.,” Xcel stated Wednesday morning.