The Upper Midwest was hit by a slow-moving snowstorm this weekend, leaving the area blanketed in snow and causing over 600 crashes. The storm, which affected Minnesota and surrounding areas, deposited over 15 inches of snow across the state and plummeted temperatures, icing roads in the process.
Lt. Eric Roeske of the Minnesota Highway Patrol told the Los Angeles Times, "Temperatures dropped dramatically. Heavy, wet snow froze, so most roads are snow-and ice-covered this morning.
According to the LA Times, the Minnesota Highway Patrol dealt with 637 crashes and over 1,100 spin-outs and vehicles off the road between Saturday evening and 6 a.m. Monday. Roeske said at least one crash ended fatally in southwestern Minnesota.
He later updated the count on his Twitter account to 654 crashes and 1,299 spin-outs and vehicles off the road since 9:30 p.m. Friday.
The Associated Press reported that the state Department of Transportation was forced to pull snowplows from highways in the southwest and west on Sunday afternoon due to poor visibility. T.J. Melcher, public affairs coordinator with the Minnesota Department of Transportation in Willmar told the Times that snowplows returned around midnight. Roads began reopening around 5 a.m., with a majority opened by 8 a.m., he added.
The storm, which also dropped over a foot of snow in South Dakota, also sent snow to Wisconsin on Monday. According to the AP, the National Weather Service issued a winter snow warning for parts of northwestern Wisconsin on Monday, which was expected to get up to 9 inches of snow through noon.
School districts throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota cancelled or delayed classes on Monday, the AP reported.
The weekend's snowstorm was the heaviest snowfall to hit Minneapolis since Dec. 2010, when a heavy snow caused the Metrodome roof to collapsed, resulting in a $22.7 million roof restoration project.
Steve Maki, director of facilities at the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Authority told the AP that officials weren't taking chances of another roof collapse. According to Maki, the Metrodome cranked up the heat on Sunday and planned to keep it high until the stormed passed.
"What we don't want to happen is 21 inches in eight hours," Maki told Weather.com. "We can handle it over 15-16 hours but eight hours gets a little tough sometimes." He added that the Metrodome's roof was doing well.
Weather.com also reported at nearly 150 flights from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport were canceled due to the storm on Sunday. However, the airport's website said that flights had resumed operations by Monday morning.
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