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An early blast of winter in the Upper Midwest unloaded several inches of snow across a wide swath of Minnesota and Wisconsin on Monday, causing difficult driving conditions and leading to school cancellations across the region.
The heaviest band of snow was parked on top of Minnesota’s midsection and into Wisconsin. In Stearns County, 16.5 inches were reported in St. Augusta, and Kimball saw 13 inches and St. Cloud measured an even foot, the National Weather Service reported. The was 9.5 inches recorded by noon at Murdock in Swift County.
Total accumulations of 12 to 18 inches were forecast through Tuesday morning across central Minnesota and northern Wisconsin. By mid-afternoon, 10 to 11 inches had been reported in Burnett and Sawyer counties in northwest Wisconsin.
“It’s going to keep on snowing tonight and, with the strong north or northwest winds, it’s not going to be a good night to be out and about. It’s going to be near whiteout or blizzard conditions at times,’’ said Carol Christenson, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Duluth.
“Get home and stay there and let the plows do their work,” Christenson said.
Areas from about Pine County, Minnesota, across northern Wisconsin and into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula could see 18 inches or more of new snow by the time the storm moves out Tuesday.
Snow also was falling in the Twin Cities, where at least 175 flights were canceled at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and metro commutes were dragged out.
With up to 16 inches expected before the snow is finished, St. Cloud State University’s Bob Weisman, professor of earth and atmospheric sciences predicted this would be the heaviest November snowfall in St. Cloud since Nov. 26-27, 2001.
A winter storm warning remains were still in effect for some areas into Tuesday, with blustery winds threatening to cause some blowing and drifting. The heavy wet snow was making shoveling a chore.
Icy roads were a factor in a fatal crash in southern Minnesota’s Blue Earth County.
The Minnesota State Patrol reports that Mridusha Allen, 30, of Springfield, Minn., died after losing control of a Toyota Corolla on state Highway 68 and sliding into the path of an tractor-trailer driven by Howard Klingler of New Ulm. Klingler was not hurt.
In the west Twin Cities metro area, the Carver County sheriff’s office reported a second fatal weather-related crash.
Travel will remain hazardous into Tuesday morning, the Weather Service said, with temperatures dropping overnight and remaining unseasonably cold.
Motorists who braved the highways Monday found difficult driving conditions. Accident reports from the Minnesota State Patrol on Monday included a tractor-trailer jack-knifed on an icy stretch of Highway 59 in Nobles County in the southwest to a rollover on a divided stretch of Highway 53 in St. Louis County in the northeast.
The North Dakota Department of Transportation and the North Dakota Highway Patrol issued a travel alert for western and southwestern North Dakota because of falling snow creating wet and slippery roads. Bismarck reported 3 inches of snow. The band of snowfall moved across South Dakota and into Minnesota, where it headed northeast it toward the Great Lakes.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation issued a reminder Monday for motorists to use caution around slower-moving snowplows.
MnDOT gave this advice: Stay at least five car lengths behind a plow, out of the snow cloud. Be alert for plows that turn or exit frequently. Some plows may also travel over center lines or partially into traffic to remove snow.
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