Minnesotans on Thursday braced for a monster winter storm already wreaking havoc in other parts of the country, just in time to threaten the last-minute deliveries and long-anticipated travel plans that accompany the Christmas holiday.
After a record-setting 8.1 inches of snow at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Wednesday, a Thursday morning respite ended as winds started picking up across western and southern Minnesota in the afternoon. The 20- to 25-mph gusts created extremely low visibility along Interstate 90 and in the Redwood Falls area. Conditions were so bad in Renville County, about two hours west of the Twin Cities, that the Public Works Department pulled its plows off the roads at noon.
Windchill readings at 2 p.m. included 44 below in Worthington and Slayton, the coldest in the state at that time. Right behind at 40 below or colder were Alexandria, Olivia and Glenwood in central Minnesota, said meteorologist Tyler Hasenstein with the National Weather Service in the Twin Cities.
"It's creeping closer" to the Twin Cities, Hasenstein said, although the truly brutal Arctic air wasn't expected to reach the metro until late Thursday. "That is when it will take a turn for the worse."
A blizzard warning went into effect Thursday afternoon in areas of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River, while a winter storm warning covered areas east of the river, with both in place through Friday night, the Weather Service said.
"Several hours of whiteout conditions are expected this afternoon onward, even in metropolitan areas," the Weather Service said. By early evening, the Minnesota Department of Transportation was advising no travel overnight in 13 southwest counties "due to limited visibility and extreme weather conditions which may be life-threatening if stranded." The agency also closed Interstate 90 west of Albert Lea to the South Dakota border as of 7 p.m.
Minneapolis, St. Paul and multiple metro-area suburbs declared snow emergencies that continued Thursday.
Snow totals included 8.1 inches in Robbinsdale and Ramsey, 8 inches in Lakeville, 7.5 inches in White Bear Lake, 7.3 inches in Savage and Shakopee, 6.9 inches in Fridley, 6.5 inches in Oakdale, 5.9 inches in Bloomington and 5.5 inches in Red Wing, the Weather Service said.