Winter Storm Causes Messy Commute In Metro

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Monday has been nothing but slow going, white-knuckle driving with poor visibility and slick roads across the metro.

Spinning, sliding and very slow driving. The heavy, wet snow made taking to the roads a downright hassle.

"Roads are slippery, you can't see the markings on the road, people are anxious to get home," cross-country skier Gary Haley said.

While the intense conditions arrived after the morning commute, it was still stop and go on highways by early afternoon.

MnDOT crews are out in full force with 200 plows across the Twin Cities working 24/7.

"The big issue for us is we keep plowing when it's snowing to get as much of the snow off the road as possible, but for us the real issue is when it's done we want to get the roads cleared and everything cleaned up so we can get ready for the next storm," Kevin Gutknecht with MnDOT said.

Fortunately, Gutknecht says, temperatures have been warm enough for salt to help melt away some of the mess.

And despite headache after headache across the metro, it still wasn't too difficult to find those looking on the bright side.

"Well it's clearly a hassle if you need to get some place," Haley said. "If you don't, if you just need to go cross country skiing and get gasoline and talk to you nice people, it's kind of fun."

Haley welcomes the snow with open arms. But the bitter wind kept him from enjoying it.

"It is brutal, it's winter," he said. "I just went cross-country skiing and went for a little while, it was so icy and the wind was blowing out in the open more than this sheltered area that we're in now."

So he called it a day, only to deal with the messy roads.

For marathon runner Jonathan Erber, Monday's conditions were a piece of cake. Nice enough, in fact, to run 10 miles in shorts.

"The snow is the best right when it's fresh because it's not all icy and icky yet," Erber said.

He ran against the pelting we snow and gusty winds down Summit Avenue, with a smile.

"This is like the best weather because you're not sweating," Erber said. "In the summer you wish it would be 30 degrees and snowing again because you're dripping everywhere and here you can just run and not sweat and you don't get as thirsty."

And Erber isn't the only one who appreciates what Mother Nature brought us Monday.

"It's intense, it's very intense but you gotta be from Minnesota to understand this weather, it's beautiful out here," Daryl Williams said. "You still gotta like to play in it. Period. You still got to be a kid at heart."