NEXT Weather Alert: Drawn-out snow storm could leave metro with 8-10 inches by Thursday
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UPDATE: This is Tuesday's story. Watch and read the latest forecast here.
MINNEAPOLIS -- More rounds of shoveling and plowing are in store for many Minnesotans this week.
The Twin Cities were downgraded Tuesday night from a Winter Storm Warning to a Winter Weather Advisory. Southwestern Minnesota will also be downgraded at midnight Wednesday. The advisory mainly warns of poor road conditions and possible blowing snow.
RELATED: Minnesota School Closings & Delays
WCCO meteorologist Chris Shaffer says phase one of this storm has moved through, leaving 3 to 6 inches across the metro, and 8-10 inches in parts of southwest Minnesota. This will be the recovery time before phase two arrives. For that reason, Shaffer says the NEXT Weather Alert period will be extended into Wednesday.
Freezing drizzle will be a thing of the past after Tuesday, as this second phase will feature waves of snow that will hold steady through Thursday morning.
Heavy bands will persist from the overnight through late Wednesday morning in and around the metro, southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, before light bands take over for the duration of the storm. Folks in western and southwestern Minnesota will be spared from heavy accumulation this time around.
MORE WEATHER: Check out live radar
By Thursday morning, the metro and south-central Minnesota could see an additional 3-6 inches of accumulation; 2-3 in the southeast; and 4-7 up north.
Wednesday's high temp will be 33 in the metro, which will help MnDOT's road chemicals do their work. Thursday will be slightly cooler, but we'll drop into the low-20s Friday and Saturday.
We'll start to warm up during the tail end of the weekend, and reach back into the 30s early next week.
Pastor helps Eden Prairie students dig out cars in parking lot
Not many metro-area schools called off class, and a lot of students in Eden Prairie got stuck heading home.
Many students share the parking lot with Prairie Hill Church, and they came out after school to find their cars buried in about 6 inches of snow.
But Lead Pastor Matt Brant and Associate Pastor Tyler Magnuson saw a need.
"You know when you sit at a desk all day it's kinda nice to get outside and grab a shovel," Brant said.
"It was hard," said student Isaiah Nduulu. "I parked all the way over there and it took me like 45 minutes to come to the entrance, and then right when I got to the entrance I got stuck."
A little bit of kindness went a long way - Brant said he helped anywhere from 15 to 20 students dig themselves out throughout the course of the afternoon.
Man hit and killed by truck after getting out of vehicle that went into ditch near St. Cloud
A driver who got out of their vehicle after it went into a ditch was hit and killed by a pickup truck Tuesday evening on a snowy central Minnesota highway.
The Minnesota State Patrol says the deadly crash happened at about 7:19 p.m. on Highway 24 in Clearwater Township, which is just southeast of St. Cloud.
The truck was heading southbound on the highway when it struck the victim – a 36-year-old man from Maple Lake – who was standing on the shoulder. His identity has not been released.
The driver of the truck, a 34-year-old man from Kimball, was not hurt in the crash.
The state patrol says there were more than 800 crashes and spinouts on Minnesota roads during Tuesday's snow storm.
Should Minneapolis shovel for its residents?
Many took advantage of the break in the storm Tuesday to shovel out their sidewalks in Minneapolis.
If you didn't know, you could be billed if the city is forced to do it for you. But there's a renewed push to take the shovel or snow blower out of your hands and make it the city's responsibility.
When the snow falls, sidewalk clearing follows for Minneapolis resident Michael Bevan.
"You have to do it, it's part of life," Bevan said.
Bevan got out to clear his steps, his sidewalk and those of his neighbors. Hearing there's a push for the city to take on snow and ice clearing sounds appealing.
"I'd want to find out how it's being paid for first, like if it's property tax increase, or if it's some other way," Bevan said. "Need to see the fine print."
Our Streets Minneapolis says sidewalks left uncleared is a concern. They're canvassing Minneapolis neighborhoods to get support for city-led snow removal, said Carly Ellefson.
"It's an accessibility, equity and safety issue for the city of Minneapolis when there are unclear sidewalks," Ellefson said.
A proposed pilot program before the city council failed in December. The nonprofit is pushing forward, asking the city to find the funds in the existing budget for 2024.
"In the same way they plow for cars, why can't they plow for people?" Ellefson said.
Some question if it would really work, and if there would be unintended consequences.
"What about the poor mom and pops?" resident Lou Anderson said.
Anderson had a small engine shop, and says she got to know hard-working folks who this could put out of business.
"I'm not on board. I mean, in theory it's great, but if you look at the people … you're going to take their only source of income away," Anderson said.
Our Streets Minneapolis claims it would cost roughly $20 million per year, or $47 per resident to cover their proposal.
The city of Minneapolis tells WCCO public works is looking at a variety of actions to get more sidewalks cleared including:
* Updating the 2018 Pedestrian and Bicycle Winter Maintenance Study by the end of 2023.
* Reviewing the proactive inspection program.
* Piloting a multi-year Snow Ambassador Program focusing on non-compliant properties and other pedestrian facilities on the Pedestrian Priority Network. This has not been funded, but something the City Council is interested in exploring.
* Conducting a targeted outreach campaign to repeat properties and rental management groups.
Delta plane skids off icy taxiway at MSP Airport
A Delta Airlines flight slid off an icy taxiway at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Tuesday evening just after landing.
MSP officials say the A320 aircraft had just arrived from Los Cabos, Mexico, with 147 passengers on board "when its nose gear went off the pavement around 6:40 p.m." and got stuck in snow about 30 feet off the taxiway. No one was hurt.
Less than an hour after the incident, all of MSP's runways were temporarily closed because of freezing drizzle.
WCCO's David Schuman reports that members of Rosemount High School's marching band -- which just performed at the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena -- were stranded due to this situation, with half the band in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and the other half in Des Moines, Iowa.
Slow plow drivers working 24/7 to clear roads in Anoka County
Anoka County snow plow drivers will be on the roads 24/7 until the snow ends.
Paul Beese is on the night shift with nine other drivers, so he worked Tuesday afternoon and will be behind the wheel of his plow until 2 a.m. Wednesday.
"Probably the hard part is the other traffic," he said. "A little stressful, but I enjoy it."
Beeze says the simple way to make drivers' lives--and thus, your life--a lot easier is to give the plows room and don't try to pass them.
Anoka County's highway department is responsible for plowing more than 1,700 miles of roads.
"We see a lot of people try to drive through the dust cloud that forms behind the trucks," said Joe MacPherson, the Anoka County Engineer. "It's like playing Russian roulette out there. It's the worst thing you can do."
The plows start left and work right, trying to avoid leaving drifts that a car might get stuck in.
Beese says the nice part about this storm versus some of the other snow we've had already this winter is that it's not so bitterly cold. Hovering around freezing temperatures allows the salt the plows drop to be more effective.
Minneapolis, St. Paul hold off on snow emergency declarations
Neither of the Twin Cities declared a snow emergency Tuesday night.
Plows are out in Minneapolis and St. Paul, but with more snow expected, they plan to monitor what's happening and re-evaluate Wednesday.
Tow truck pulls same driver out of ditches twice in one day
It was rough going if you were out on the roads Tuesday, especially if you were traveling to the southwest suburbs.
The rain, snow and sleet mix turned into heavy, wet snow the further south we traveled on Highway 169 South.
We were attempting to get to Belle Plaine, but we only got as far as Jordan because of road conditions. It didn't take long for road conditions to change the further south we drove.
At first we could see a trail of pavement on the highway to guide us on our trip. But within minutes, that trail was covered with ice and snow.
Visibility got worse, and then we noticed our tires had a hard time getting traction, as the snow was piling up on the highway.
We saw several cars in the ditch, some were stuck on off-ramps, hitting snow drifts as they exited the highway.
We met Coon Rapids resident Andre Robinson, who had been trying since early Tuesday morning to get to his destination.
"If you don't need to go somewhere today, just stay at home," Robinson said. "I've been in a ditch twice today already. I've been on the road since 7:30 this morning, never made my destination. I decided to turn around and go back home now."
Robinson says the same tow truck had to pull him out of two separate ditches.
Life must go on for metro residents amid Tuesday's snow storm
It's too slick and too cold for some people to do their daily chores Tuesday in the Twin Cities, which is where the dog walkers come in handy on a day like today.
The team Citizen Kanine took 16 of their clients out on a long walk in Edina. Getting exercise keeps the dogs and the walkers warm.
It's something we saw a lot of people doing Tuesday to stay toasty and get exercise, on land and on the iced-over Lake Harriet in Minneapolis.
"We just have to make sure we're dressed right, and we like the magic Musher's Secret to put on their paws to help with icing up, so we carry, tah-dah, the magic wax!" said Curtis Johnson.
"Doing my exercises, working out. I started it with the pandemic to be more safe. Summer is easy to do, and winter is a bit more challenging, but it's pretty beautiful and good to exercise in," said John Rafferty.
MnDOT lifts some no-travel advisories in SE MN
The Minnesota Department of Transportation has lifted some no-travel advisories in southeastern Minnesota late Tuesday afternoon, but drivers are still advised to use caution on wintry roads.
State Patrol: 800+ crashes and spinouts Tuesday on Minnesota roads
The Minnesota State Patrol says between 11:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, there were 157 crashes, with one fatality and four resulting in injuries.
There were also 653 spinouts and off-road accidents, and 10 jackknifed semis.
Drivers help shovel Twin Cities on-ramp
Drivers helped clear the ramp from Excelsior Boulevard to Highway 100 late Tuesday afternoon in St. Louis Park.
Robbinsdale, Elk River, Brooklyn Center declare snow emergencies
The City of Robbinsdale has declared a snow emergency that will take effect at Tuesday at 10 p.m.
Elk River has also declared a snow event, which will go into effect at 2 a.m. Wednesday.
Brooklyn Center's parking restrictions begin at midnight Wednesday.
Latest snow totals as of 3 p.m.
NEXT Drive: Conditions worsening
You can check the latest NEXT Drive conditions by clicking here.
Reg Chapman reported from the field that roads in the metro area are increasingly treacherous. Other WCCO crews in the field are reporting similar conditions, and taking things cautiously:
Flight delays, cancellations begin piling up
According to FlightAware, more than 300 flights either departing from or arrive to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport have either been delayed or canceled.
- Total delays today at MSP: 146
- Total delays within, into, or out of the United States today at MSP: 146
- Total cancellations today at MSP: 170
- Total cancellations within, into, or out of the United States today at MSP: 170
Metro Transit: Nearly half of buses running behind schedule
Nearly half of buses in the metro area are running behind schedule.
Metro Transit says as of 1 p.m., 47% of buses are delayed by roughly 7 minutes. No buses have been rerouted because of the snow.
The light rail has not been impacted by the snow, Metro Transit says.
Metro area cities declare snow emergencies
As the snow continues to fall, multiple cities around the Twin Cities are declaring snow emergencies.
St. Louis Park has declared a snow emergency, which will go into effect starting at 10 p.m. Tuesday night. Eden Prairie, New Hope and Plymouth have also declared snow emergencies.
More cities that have declared snow emergencies:
- Brooklyn Park
- West St. Paul
Check here to see if your city has declared a snow emergency.
