Dangerous Driving & Canceled Flights Remain After Monday's Winter Storm
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Many roads are still in rough shape after the winter storm blasted Minnesota Monday, and travel is not advised in south central Minnesota.
On Monday morning and throughout the day, the winter storm brought heavy snow through southern Minnesota and into the metro area, dumping 17 inches in Owatonna, more than 16 inches in Prior Lake and 12.4 inches at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
According to meteorologist Matt Brickman, it was the Twin Cities biggest snowstorm in 7 years, and just missed cracking the Top 20 snowstorm on record. No. 20 was 13 inches at MSP Airport.
Coincidentally, Brickman says 12.4 inches wasn't the most snow we've seen on a January 22 in the Twin Cities. We had 17.2 inches on Jan 22, 1982 – part of a 20-inch snow storm.
Statewide Monday, the Minnesota State Patrol says there were more than 230 crashes, 435 spinouts and 41 jackknifed semi-trucks. No deaths were reported.
Dangerous driving conditions caused the Minnesota Department of Transportation to close I-35 from Faribault to Owatonna. The Country Inn and Suites in Northfield booked at least twenty rooms in just a half hour yesterday from people who had to pull off the roads.
The storm also prompted MSP Airport to close all runways for a time Monday and cancel more than 300 flights. Now, three of four runways at MSP International are open, as the airport works to get back on track.
The airport says the biggest challenge Tuesday is that airlines weren't able to get all their flights in Monday, so some planes that would normally be at MSP ready for flights Tuesday are not. That has resulted in more than 130 flights cancelled – even though the airfield is open.
Metro Transit says, as of 8:35 a.m., 36 percent of its buses were delayed with an average delay at 6 minutes. Blue Line and Green Line are delayed up to 10 minutes.
On Tuesday, the challenge remains for motorists attempting to navigate side streets that are not plowed as of yet. WCCO's Mary McGuire found dicey conditions in Bloomington.
