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Monday's Snowstorm Makes For One Messy Commute

By Holly Wagner, WCCO-TV

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- No surprise, the snow made for a slow and messy Monday morning commute. And it could very well do the same thing for the evening commute.

The light and fluffy snow may be fun for kids to play in, but for everyone out on the roads, it's been less than enjoyable.

It was the same ol' story we've been used to all winter: spinouts, crashes and rollovers.

"Traffic has been really slow because it's so slippery,"  said Donna Standeford, a bus driver in Minneapolis.

Another snowy morning in the Twin Cities made for another hairy rush-hour commute.

Between 5 and 10 a.m. the State Patrol reported more than 150 crashes in the metro and more than 100 spin-outs and cars off the road.

Snow-covered streets also made it tough for bus drivers to get around.

"People are driving because they can't see the lanes so they're driving not in their lanes, they're making extra lanes so it's really been kind of bad out here," Standeford said.

The month of January has been somewhat of a snowathon. We've had a trace or more of snow 27 out of the 31 days this month.

"This is just too much snow," said Chris Sanders, of Minneapolis.

MnDOT says it's plow drivers need a break -- they're close to working a record number of 12-hour days.

This winter seems to be wearing people out.

"I'm sick of trying to figure out how many layers  to wear every day. Then if I put too many layers on I'm hot and I've got to carry something around," said Mike Farrell, who just moved to Minneapolis from North Dakota.

If you're hoping for a break in February -- like most of us are -- don't hold your breath.

According to the Climate Prediction Center, there's a trend toward cooler-than-normal temperatures next month with an above normal snowfall in northern Minnesota.

"They haven't dragged that big woodchuck out in Pennsylvania yet -- Punxsutawney Phil," Farrell said.

And who knows, he might have good news for us on Tuesday. The groundhog is set to check his shadow soon. If he sees it, six more weeks of bad weather, but if not? An early spring could be headed our way.

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