Snow from an overnight storm is leaving quite the mess across much of Minnesota.
National Weather Service Twin Cities lead forecaster Mike Greisinger says the heaviest band of snow this morning extends from Albert Lea up into Dakota County where there will be some pretty impressive totals when it's all said and done.
"You know we already had some near 7-inch reports in the Burnsville, Lakeville area at midnight," Greisinger told WCCO Wednesday morning. "They're in Dakota County. They likely are gonna be waking up to double digit snowfall totals this morning as they get out to clean up from this storm."
The heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions have now involved Governor Tim Walz who today declared a peacetime emergency and authorized the Minnesota National Guard to provide support for emergency storm operations.
“Minnesota is no stranger to winter weather, but conditions can quickly become unpredictable and dangerous,” said Governor Walz. “As we work to alleviate the dangerous road conditions, the National Guard is stepping up to provide life-saving support.”
The state has received a request for National Guard assistance from the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office to provide the personnel, equipment, facilities, and resources necessary to respond to the severe weather and rescue stranded motorists.
The executive order is effective immediately and remains in effect until emergency conditions caused by the winter storm subside or until March 9, 2025.
Minneapolis and St. Paul will be more in the 5 to 8 inch range according to Greisinger who says if you delay your morning commute even a few hours, you'll likely save yourself some time. Both of those cities have now declared snow emergencies with many of the suburbs doing the same. Both Minneapolis and St. Paul's snow emergencies go into effect Wednesday night at 9:00.
"After 10:00 in the morning, still some snow around, but you should start to see things getting a lot better," says Greisinger. "And by this afternoon and certainly the evening commute we should be in a much better shape than what we're starting out at now."
That wind is no joke though. WCCO's Mark Freie was in a McDonald's parking lot early Wednesday morning where one of the drive-thru stations had blown over. Even with the snow getting lighter, the blowing makes it just as difficult to see and keep roads clear.
The National Weather Service did downgrade the weather warnings after 11:00 a.m. Both the Blizzard and Winter Storm Warnings have been replaced with a Winter Weather Advisory until 3:00 p.m. The snow is ending, but wind gusts in the 35 to 45 mph range will still lead to areas of blowing snow into the afternoon. Localized whiteout conditions are still possible, but as temperatures warm and cloud cover thins, the snow will be less likely to blow around as time goes on.
Official snowfall reports as of 6:00 a.m. from the National Weather Service shows a steep cutoff depending on where you are:
Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport (MSP): 7.4"
NWS Chanhassen: 6.5"
Eau Claire, WI: 1.0"
St. Cloud: 0.8"
MnDOT says removing this snow is a challenge
Speaking of keeping roads clear, MnDOT has a major challenge ahead of them according to spokesperson Anne Meyer who spoke to the WCCO Morning News Wednesday.
"We've had hours and hours of snowfall combined with very strong winds, so any progress being made overnight was certainly getting covered up again with more blowing snow, and it's still snowing," Meyer says. "And so, until that part of this equation gets out of the mix, we might not start seeing some progress out there."
It's bad enough that plows are getting stuck, including this one on a ramp at 494 northbound to Valley Creek Road in Woodbury.
Meyer does note that temperatures are at a place where their chemicals can quickly get snow and ice off roadways which is good news for roads this afternoon.
"Once the snow stops," notes Meyer. "But I'll tell you, that wind's going to create some issues on those traditional trouble spots, ramps, bridges, overpasses, some of these curves. That's where we're seeing a lot of the incidents out there this morning."
Metro Transit suspends service Wednesday morning
The roads were so bad in the Twin Cities Wednesday morning that Metro Transit took the unusual move of suspending all of their bus service.
"Due road conditions, all bus service has been suspended," they said in a statement around 6:00 a.m. "Light rail and Northstar are currently operating as regular. Bus service will resume when it is safe to do so. Please watch for updates."
Spokesperson Drew Kerr told WCCO Radio that it was just too tough to get buses around the metro.
"We saw the buses that were getting out there on the street were having a very difficult time, and so as we continue to get those reports and hearing about buses really having a hard time out there on the road, that's when we made that determination that we need to suspend service," Kerr says. "Wait for the roads to get better, and then we will get back out there and resume service."
As of 9:50 a.m. service was restored but the agency warned of significant delays as they try to get back on schedule.
Forecast will provide quick relief
WCCO Chief Meteorologist Chris Shaffer says Wednesday is going to be a very difficult wintery day.
"Believe it or not, the snow will taper off and move out around lunchtime," he says. "The clouds will start to clear out from west to east as well. We might even see a little sunshine, but it's still going to be a nasty day. Only a high of 31, that northwest wind still howling, 15 to 25 MPH. We'll be dealing with the blowing and drifting snow."
But there's good news. It won't last long.
"Clearing it out tonight, the wind finally settles down, dropping down to 15," Shaffer said. "Sunshine tomorrow with a high of 38. We'll hang in the 30s into the first part of the weekend. We'll be in the 50s early next week."
That will quickly melt what's out there, especially with some sun which at this time of the year is easily strong enough to melt any remaining snow.