Snow snarls traffic, triggers emergencies, closes schools across Twin Cities area

As December snowstorms go, the one that dumped several inches of snow on the metro and much of the southern half of Minnesota on Thursday was fairly average. But the first significant snow of the season was still enough to snarl morning traffic, give some students an unplanned day off school and greatly increase the odds of a white Christmas.

Minneapolis and St. Paul declared snow emergencies with instructions for vehicle owners to revisit their parking plans. The emergencies in both cities go into effect at 9 p.m. Thursday. A winter storm warning remains in effect until midnight with light to moderate snow of up to an inch predicted throughout the metro and portions of central and southeast Minnesota including in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Shakopee, Stillwater, St. Cloud and Red Wing.

As of 6 p.m., 5.2 inches had fallen at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport with 6 inches reported at the Chanhassen offices of the National Weather Service. On Friday, weather predictions show partly sunny weather with temperatures around the mid-teens.

By midmorning Thursday, 4 to 6 inches of snow had fallen in many areas with the State Patrol saying by early morning it had responded to nearly 100 crashes across the state and 28 vehicles that went into the ditch. As of 8:30 p.m., those numbers had jumped to more than 430 crashes with nearly 40 of them causing injuries.

[More: Where to park during a snow emergency in the Twin Cities]

Ice- and snow-covered roads kept commuters crawling even as Taylor Drift, Clearopathra and the rest of the Minnesota Department of Transportation's named and unnamed plows tried to clear them. Snow falling at about a half-inch to an inch an hour made the job tough, said agency spokeswoman Anne Meyer.

"This will be a long day with long impact," Meyer said. "The longer it snows, the longer it will take to clear off the roads."

Main roads in the metro were mainly wet as of noon. But wind coming behind the snow is expected to blow around what fell, making for dangerous driving conditions that should persist until about midnight, when the winter storm warning expires, the National Weather Service said.

Some suburbs including Plymouth and Robbinsdale have rules that automatically trigger an emergency when 2 or more inches of snow falls. The same is true in Richfield, which has a threshold of 4 inches. The suburb had collected over 5 inches by noon, the Weather Service said.

Brooklyn Park, Bloomington and Osseo also declared snow emergencies.

Transit riders faced delays as buses attempted to make their way Thursday morning. At one time, Metro Transit reported that 60% of buses were running behind schedule. By noon, that figure had dropped to 33% with the average delay at 8 minutes, the agency said.

Light-rail and commuter rail trains ran on time, Metro Transit said.

The snowstorm hit MSP airport as holiday travelers were trying to escape. A brief ground stop was in place Thursday morning, but was short-lived, said spokesman Jeff Lea. Most delays were the result of planes waiting for crews to scrape off runways or for deicing. As of noon, delays seemed minimal, according to the FAA.

By then, more than 85 outbound and 61 inbound flights had been delayed, and four inbound and one outbound flight had been canceled, the airport's website said.

Brainerd, Fergus Falls, Little Falls and Royalton in greater Minnesota, as well as Stillwater in the metro area, were among districts calling off classes Thursday while scores of others started classes a couple of hours late. Minneapolis Public Schools held classes but called off all after-school activities and online and in-person adult education classes.

The snow trailed off by late afternoon in most places, but gusty winds were expected to blow fallen snow and impact travel late into the night, the Weather Service said.