Halloween weather brings up to 4 inches of snow to the Twin Cities by Thursday afternoon

Spooky season brought winter weather to the Twin Cities on Thursday with as much as four inches of snow falling across the metro area just in time for trick-or-treaters.

A winter weather advisory was in effect most of the day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. as the metro and parts of south central Minnesota saw their first snow of the season. But roads in the metro area were not expected to be heavily affected, with wet and heavy snow falling onto warmer pavement.

“We’re not expecting a lot of issues for the evening commute,” said Joe Calderone, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “But if you come across an untreated road, [it’s] something to be aware of.”

As of 5 p.m., the Minnesota Department of Transportation reported most roads in the area were under normal driving conditions although some stretches of highway were “partially covered” by snow. The rest of the state was under normal road conditions.

According to the National Weather Service, at least four areas across the state received 4 inches of snow as of 2:45 p.m. Thursday: Plymouth in Hennepin County, along with Pine, Wright and Sibley counties.

The Minnesota State Patrol said as of 4 p.m. the agency responded to 169 crashes across the state, with 16 involving injuries. It was not made clear how many were related to weather though the icy roads could have been a factor in two fatal accidents.

A two-vehicle crash in Acoma Township in Mcleod County killed a 77-year-old Hutchinson woman, according to the State Patrol. One eastbound vehicle and another heading west along Hwy. 7 collided near Vale Avenue around 10 a.m. The State Patrol report noted conditions involved snow and ice.

Thursday began with almost an inch of rain falling on the Twin Cities area, and the weather may have played a role in a fatal car crash in Brooklyn Park.

According to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, a man died after his vehicle rolled over into a ditch and filled with rainwater at about 9:24 a.m. at the intersection of Green Haven Drive and Bottineau Boulevard. The vehicle was submerged in water when first responders arrived, and they were unable to pull the driver out.

Megan Larson, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office, said the incident was likely weather-related, although she did not describe how the crash unfolded.

The good news for Halloween revelers was the snow and rain began to wrap up around 5 p.m. though temperatures will remain in the 30s with a sharp windchill.

The cold and wet weather comes just days after Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport recorded a record-high temperature of 79 degrees on Tuesday, topping the previous high of 78 set in 1922.

And, of course, any whiff of snow on Halloween will remind longtime Minnesotans of the 1991 Halloween blizzard when 21 inches of snow fell over 24 hours in the Twin Cities.