Minneapolis, St. Paul call snow emergencies; roads remain snow covered

Minnesotans spent Wednesday digging out from one of the largest January snowstorms ever recorded, after more than a foot of snow fell over two days and turned roads treacherous, downed power lines, closed schools and created a real chore for anybody who had to clear it.

After another couple of inches of snow fell overnight, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport has now recorded 14.9 inches, making it he 14th-largest snowfall in Minnesota recorded history. The notably wet, heavy snow came two weeks after a bitter cold snap and blizzard conditions lashed Minnesota and other parts of the U.S.

"At least it is above freezing," Pete Boulay, Minnesota state climatologist, said Wednesday. "People can enjoy the snow maybe, go play in the snow."

At the corner of Como Avenue and Knapp Street in St. Paul's St. Anthony Park neighborhood, Dahiana Parra was stuck Wednesday afternoon. She had coaxed her blue Scion up a short hill to the stop sign at the corner, but it refused to go farther. This wasn't how the short drive to the gym was supposed to go.

"I wasn't going to let this weather stop me," she said ruefully.

Nearby, Neil Dieterich looked up from his shoveling. Soon he was pulling snow out from under her car. "Try it now!"

The car moved a few inches and stopped. Stuck again. Another man appeared with a shovel. Neighbor Scott Larsson has lived on this street for years.

"You'll never get up that hill," he told Parra as he scooped snow from under her car.

Wearing tennis shoes and pink leggings, Parra stood on the snow-covered road and took stock. "I love winter," she deadpanned.

With this storm, the Twin Cities has picked up more than 47 inches of snow — 21 more than normal for this time of this season. It's made for the snowiest November-through-early-January period in 13 years, and is closing in on the seasonal average of just over 51 inches.

On Thursday — after key streets are plowed overnight — Minneapolis and St. Paul move into the second day of a snow emergency, forcing residents who park on streets to find alternate places to put their vehicles.

Some complained on social media over St. Paul's timing, noting that the first part of the storm on Tuesday dropped more than 3 inches — the normal threshold for triggering the snow plowing event. But with back-to-back days of significant snow, capital city officials chose to wait a day before making the call.

"Having multiple snow emergencies declared close together can snarl traffic and create an ongoing mess," said Public Works Director Sean Kershaw.

Kershaw said the best way to ensure streets are adequately plowed is for people to move their cars when a snow emergency is declared. During the last snow emergency in December, the city issued 2,400 tickets and towed 830 vehicles.

Across the Twin Cities, plows continued working to open roads and sidewalks that at times were impassable. In Blaine, crews worked 12- to 14-hour shifts to clear 600 miles of roads, mainly in residential areas.

"With this event, we might not get caught up 'til Saturday," Deputy Public Works Director Nick Fleischhacker said Wednesday. Blaine has 43 plows, pickup trucks and smaller equipment for sidewalks and parking lots, and "they are all out today," he said.

"We will get to everybody," Fleischhacker said.

The treacherous conditions affected air travel, too. About 121 incoming and departing flights had been canceled and 373 delayed by 7 p.m. Wednesday at MSP airport, according to the flight tracking website flightaware.com.

In some places, even staying home produced a headache: More than 1,000 customers served by Dakota Electric Association were without electricity Wednesday morning, according to the utility. The outages were attributed to sagging tree branches and snow-laden power lines, and were scattered across Dakota County. Power had been restored to all but 50 homes a little before 7 p.m.

More than 12.3 inches of snow had piled up in Minneapolis as of Wednesday evening, with 13.5 inches recorded in east Burnsville, 13.1 in Bloomington, 12.3 at MSP airport — the official measuring point in the Twin Cities — 12.1 in Richfield, 12 in Chanhassen and 10 in Blaine and Edina, the Weather Service said.

West Savage recorded 14.1 inches total as of 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Business was brisk at North End Hardware in Minneapolis, where shovels, salt and snowblowers running between $550 and $750 were selling fast. Several people also rented snowblowers.

"It's good business," said John Guion, part owner and manager of the store at Penn and Lowry avenues N.

Solid waste and recycling collection were suspended in Minneapolis and St. Paul Wednesday and expected to resume Thursday. Schools in the two cities were planning another at-home learning day Thursday.

MnDOT planned to be out again in full force Thursday, a day after ice- and snow-covered roads led to 229 crashes, 495 spinouts and 16 jackknifed semitrailer trucks statewide between 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Historically, record-setting January snowstorms have come later in the month. The third-largest January snowstorm in Twin Cities history was recorded in 1917, when 16 inches fell Jan. 20-21. In 1982, back-to-back snowstorms dropped 17.4 inches on Jan. 20-21, followed by 20 inches on Jan. 22-23 — the third- and- fourth-biggest Minnesota snowfalls of all time.

"This will help the drought," Boulay said. When it melts, "it will help the lakes."

Staff writers Matt McKinney and James Walsh contributed to this report.