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MnDOT Warns Drivers To Be Alert, Prepare Ahead Of Snow

MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. (WCCO) -- Winter seemed like a distant memory over the past week in Minnesota, as much of the metro area was blanketed with above average temperatures for the month of February.

Now, it is time to say hello to Old Man Winter once again.

Ahead of the snow that is expected to fall in our state from Thursday night into Friday, the Minnesota Department of Transportation is alerting drivers to make a plan and to be alert when plows are on the road.

"Motorists, they need to start thinking now, about how ... to drive on slippery roads, they need to give plows room to work," said MnDOT Director of Communications Kevin Gutknecht.

He tells WCCO-TV the mild weather was actually a great thing for MnDOT salt trucks.

10 P.M. Weather Report

"Because of the nice weather ... it allowed us to maintenance on our trucks, fix anything that may have been broken during the last round of snow," said Gutknecht.

Anywhere between 130 to 180 MnDOT salt trucks will hit the roads once the snow starts to fall.

During the reprieve from winter, customers at a local ACE Hardware in southeastern Minnesota were asking more about garden seeds than snow blowers. One snow storm could change that.

"We'll see tomorrow if people can still get out," store employee Mike Dean said. "They'll see, 'Oh, it actually is going to snow!'"

When it's done, it could be as much as a foot and a half. Rochester and Austin public schools have already closed in anticipation of the storm, making local grocery stores busy.

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