A winter storm dropped about 3 inches of snow on the Twin Cities Monday, prompting St. Paul and Minneapolis to declare snow emergences … and the snow activity isn’t quite over yet.
The metro could see another 1 to 2 inches overnight, with wind gusts 30 miles per hour leading to blowing and drifting snow, according to the National Weather Service. A winter weather advisory remains in effect through midnight Monday, when the snow is expected to taper off.
Portions of western Wisconsin got hit harder than the Twin Cities on Monday, with 5.1 inches recorded in Eau Claire late Monday afternoon, compared with 2.8 inches at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and 3 inches at the weather service’s Chanhassen office.
820pm radar shows one last burst of heavier snow working through the I-94 corridor from St. Cloud to Eau Claire through 10 pm. After that, snow will slowly taper off, finally coming to an end shortly after midnight. #mnwx #wiwx pic.twitter.com/yyC9PaBtXv
— NWS Twin Cities (@NWSTwinCities) December 31, 2019
Temperatures will drop to 19 degrees overnight, with a high of 24 degrees and partly sunny conditions New Year’s Eve Day. New Year’s Day will see more sporadic sun, with temperatures in the low 30s.
SNOW EMERGENCIES IN ST. PAUL, MINNEAPOLIS
St. Paul declared a snow emergency for Monday and Tuesday. This means parking rules change to let plows clear out the snow.
Minneapolis also declared a snow emergency on Monday.
Beginning at 9 p.m. in St. Paul, all Night Plow Routes will be cleared. Downtown residents and visitors must pay attention to signs directing which side of the street to park on.
In outlying areas, don’t park on streets posted “Night Plow Route.” Vehicles that are not moved may be ticketed and towed.
Beginning at 8 a.m. Tuesday, St. Paul will be plowing all Day Plow Routes. The routes are not marked by signs. If there are no “Night Plow Route” signs posted within the block, then consider it a Day Plow Route.
Generally, to avoid a ticket or tow, do not park in areas where streets are not plowed to the curb.
This is the second snow emergency of the season for St. Paul, and the ninth one for the calendar year. Typically, the city budgets for four such emergencies annually.
- Get updates about St. Paul snow operations at stpaul.gov/snow.
- Download Saint Paul’s free “Winter Snow Parking” app at stpaul.gov/snowapp.
- Learn where and when residents and visitors can park using the Snow Emergency Parking Map at stpaul.gov/snowemergencyparkingmap
- Visit stpaul.gov/snowFAQs for a list of snow-related frequently asked questions.
SNOW PLOWS ON THE PROWL
St. Paul sent out roughly 15 snow plows late Sunday night and overnight Monday to lay down a brine pre-treatment mix on “arterial” streets in advance of the snowfall.
It then switched to salt once the precipitation began. The goal was to keep the snow from sticking, which has been fairly successful on busy main streets.
During the last snow emergency, on the day before Thanksgiving, the city ticketed 2,246 vehicles, but only 373 vehicles (or fewer than 17 percent) were towed.
“A perfect snow emergency would be we didn’t have to ticket and tow anybody,” said St. Paul Public Works spokeswoman Lisa Hiebert. “We want people to move their cars.”
PART OF A LARGER STORM SYSTEM
Monday’s snow is part of a fierce winter storm that created blizzard conditions in the Dakotas and parts of Minnesota, shut down interstates and led to hundreds of vehicle crashes.
Snow snarled MSP Monday causing 13 flights to be cancelled and 144 delayed.
Residents in northwestern Minnesota were told to stay home after a foot of heavy, wet snow fell on top of a sheet of ice, making driving conditions treacherous.
“This is one the worst storms we’ve had, just because we had ice on the bottom of it and we received several more inches than we expected,” Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney said. “We’re telling people to be patient. Help your neighbor if you can. If you can make it a little easier for them to get around, please do that.”
While the blizzard warnings were allowed to expire in the Dakotas on Monday and some portions of the interstate highways were allowed to open, the storm continued to linger in the region.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning in northeastern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where periods of heavy snow and gusty winds were expected to create difficult travel conditions.
Forecasters expected 10 to 14 inches of snow along Lake Superior’s south shore. Wind gusts topping 60 mph whipped up waves that crashed over shoreline barriers in Duluth and Grand Marais, causing localized flooding Sunday.
North Dakota Highway Patrol Captain Bryan Niewand said law enforcement responded to more than 50 rescue calls, most from people who drove on secondary roads because the interstates were shut down.
Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner said some stranded travelers spent the night at a church in Page, northwest of Fargo.
This report contains information from the Associated Press.
