Storm #3 (Kayla)

[RebelSS]

Winds really picked up here; blowing good. Gaining on 5" by the marker....

 

Hoo boy......

 

 

 

Major highways in SE Minn to close at 2 p.m.

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Posted: Tuesday, February 2, 2016 1:44 pm

Taylor Nachtigal, [email protected]

Due to low visibility and hazardous driving conditions, the state will close the major roads in Southeast Minnesota at 2 p.m. today.

Interstate 90 and all state highways south of Highway 14 will close at 2 p.m. today due to hazardous conditions, according to a tweet sent by the Minnesota State Patrol around 12:45 p.m.

Highways south of Highway 14 will close in Blue Earth, Brown, Cottonwood, Faribault, Jackson, Martin, Nobles, Rock, Watonwan, Waseca counties.

Interstate 90 west of Interstate 35 at Albert Lea will also close at 2 p.m.

The Department of Transportation advises that no one travel due to the blizzard conditions and reports many roadways are completely covered with snow. Travel is not advised for the following counties: Blue Earth, Brown (southern portion), Cottonwood, Faribault, Jackson, Martin, Nobles, Rock, Wantowan and Waseca.

For more information visithttp://www.511mn.org or call 511.

Rochester buses

Rochester Public Transit will be stopping all  service after the 5:00 p.m. departure trips out of downtown.

The night routes will stop service after the 7:40 p.m. trips out of downtown.

Mayo Clinic Health System

Many Mayo Clinic Health System locations in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin have also adjusted their hours. Among them are:

Adams: Closed Tuesday.

Albert Lea: Clinic closed at 1 p.m. Urgent Care will remain open. Express Care closed at 11:30 a.m. Health Reach Campus closed at 1 p.m.

Alden: Closed Tuesday.

Austin: Clinic closed at 1 p.m. Tuesday. Urgent Care will remain open.

Blooming Prairie. Closed Tuesday.

Fountain Centers: Outpatient locations are closed in Austin and Rochester.

Kenyon: Closed Tuesday.

Kiester: Closed, Tuesday.

La Crescent. Closed Tuesday.

LeRoy: Closed Tuesday.

 

Edited February 2, 2016 by RebelSS

[smurfy]

Traffic is at a crawl already here. Some truck driver called the KQRS radio station ranting about one-who-thinks-I-am-silly drivers to slow down.

[rundrave]

I am working from home today. I live about 10 miles SE of Sioux Falls out in a rural area. Its really blowing around and the wind is just crazy. All the schools around here were called off by late last night.

Visibility is pretty much nothing. I went and plowed my gravel driveway with the ATV just to clear the few drifts that were forming before they got to be too large and too hard for the ATV to bust through. I wore goggles and it was still pretty much impossible to see. Should be even more fun after dark when I will attempt to head out again. Will probably have to revisit some areas in the AM as well.

They are saying 8" for us, after looking outside I see grass and 3ft drifts

[Dotch]

Wind starting to honk here too. Still snowing. Comes in bursts.Tough to tell exactly what we have at the ranch but guessing 6" - 7". Places are bare and places are 2' - 3'. Patio has 6" - 7". That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Saw a pickup go by a few minutes ago. Hasn't been at my door asking to be pulled out. They've backed us down some on snow. We may catch a break at 7" - 13" rather than the 8" - 14" total originally predicted. I feel better already. 

[RebelSS]

Neighbor just came home in his itty bitty Toyota...*MEEP*MEEP*  Barely made it into the garage. Howlin' out pretty good now, visibility is about zilch. Yup, got a good ol' fashioned snow storm goin'. I've got my chicken legs marinating in BBQ/wing sauce, making the dipping sauce now. Mug stuffin' time in about three hours.  I love these storms! 

[smurfy]

24 minutes ago, smurfy said:

Traffic is at a crawl already here. Some truck driver called the KQRS radio station ranting about one-who-thinks-I-am-silly drivers to slow down.

well that's not exactly how I phrased the drivers as he described them, but one should get the drift!!!!!

[RebelSS]

5 minutes ago, smurfy said:

well that's not exactly how I phrased the drivers as he described them, but one should get the drift!!!!!

Something like this? 

 

[smurfy]

yep!!!!!!!!!!

[bobberineyes]

It's really piling up  down this way LL, if you want to make that game on time you might want to think bout leaving soon. Maybe we should get a pool going on how long it takes LL to go from Medina to Apple Valley . 

 

[reinhard1]

I've got 4 inches in the front driveway and close to 5 in the back yard that is more protected by the wind.  I think the only reason this is news is because we haven't had much snow this winter [along with decent temps [must be global warming this year].  The snow we got during the 2014 firearms season in one dump was something to really report on.  That was a snow storm.  I'm talking about here not about down south of us where they are closing roads and schools.  Or in the open areas where drifting can be a huge problem.  It is getting windy out here though.  Glad I'm sitting here at home.  My wife is using the truck today.  The van just doesn't do it in the snow with that rear wheel drive.  I want to be sure that my wife is as safe as possible.  She is the most important person in my life along with my daughters.  good luck.

[Dotch]

Snow has let up here for now. Still windy but I think I can send Mrs. Cheviot out to do the chores soon. What? Well someone has to make supper ya know! 

[RebelSS]

Lettin' up here, too. About 6" or so. Lotsa blowin'. I'll wait until morning to go out and try to blow. Schools already cancelled for tomorrow, too. Saying another 2" or so tonite with a lot of drifting. Plow did take one swipe down my street. Think he'd do the whole thing for the darned taxes we pay in this high-buck town.

[Dotch]

Ya I don't "get" how the snow plowing works out here either. Normally with a nominal amount of snow they diddle around and don't get out here until about 10 o'clock, after everybody has packed the stuff on so they can't blade it off. Then, rather than even putting the @#!!* blade down, they pour loads of salt on it which just royally pi$$es me off. Today they've gone by three times already, both directions. I imagine tomorrow a.m. they'll dump the salt on after sleeping in until 10. Arrrgggghh!!!!

Chores weren't bad. A NE wind on the dooryard here is probably among the easiest to deal with. Like the storm back in December, the feedlot stayed relatively clear. Driveway ain't bad either. About 3 swipes with the tractor & bucket up by the house in the a.m., then Mrs. Cheviot can get out to go to work. After which I can make it look pretty and touch up the tight spots with the skidloader. Gotta get style points. 

Had a grilled cheese for lunch made with some moldy colby jack cheese I found leftover from Christmas. It was excellent. Having a little tincture after chores but think I'll do the French toast thing tonight. Might be a few maple syrup sausages left that are getting some age on them. Better use 'em before they become dog food or I'll be the one taking a dump in the yard!  

[Bryce]

Plowed out the driveway before taking the fishing truck to the clinic. 6-8" but hard to tell the way it's blowing. Roads were a tad slippery but easily passable. Took the hounds on their supper walk on the path though the prairie grass. Couple of drifts where I only saw ears and tails. Glad the pheasants spent a long time at the feeders this morning.

[reinhard1]

My wife works in Plymouth.  She left work at 3 PM and is still not home.  She keeps me informed, and the roads are very slow.  She was on 610 and it was bumper to bumper.  So even if this is not a "storm" like we are used to at times, it can create a lot of problems.  Glad she drove the truck.  4 wheel drive all the way.  good luck.

[smurfy]

drove from ramsey to cold spring. the further north the less snow. roads still had a lot to be desired. hwy 10 was an absolute skating rink. 94 was ok. only 1 vehicle in the ditch. da boss, the one who signs the check, came back from north Dakota today said the roads were good till Alexandria. then turned crappy.

[nofishfisherman]

I just went out and did a quick snow blow of the driveway just to make it easier for me to get my smaller car out in the morning.  We had 8 inches on my deck where its protected from the wind.  The driveway had anywhere from 4"-10" due to it blowing around.

I only work 2 miles from home but still left early today mainly because everyone else was.  Spent the afternoon pulling the kid around in the sled up and down the street and making snow angels.  Its much harder to get back up after making a snow angel than I remember.  That ground is getting further away each year.

 

[smurfy]

1 minute ago, nofishfisherman said:

I just went out and did a quick snow blow of the driveway just to make it easier for me to get my smaller car out in the morning.  We had 8 inches on my deck where its protected from the wind.  The driveway had anywhere from 4"-10" due to it blowing around.

I only work 2 miles from home but still left early today mainly because everyone else was.  Spent the afternoon pulling the kid around in the sled up and down the street and making snow angels.  Its much harder to get back up after making a snow angel than I remember.  That ground is getting further away each year.

 

oh I hear ya on that one!!!!!!!!!

[rundrave]

The county pulled all of the plows off the road until 5am until the winds die down.

I wont admit defeat yet, but I may need some bigger snow removing equipment. Made a few passes with the atv this evening just to break up some drifts. it was no match, I hardly put a dent in it. The 40mph wind from the north is going to bury me in.

Walked down to the blacktop road that myself and few other acreages live on. We have our own road district and pay someone to plow it. Judging by the drifts on the road, his diesel truck isnt going to cut it either. I imagine he will be back with a big bad PTO driven machine that will send the snow flying. I will be sure to flag him down and slip something his way to make sure he gets me taken care of.

The snow and wind may have won this battle, but I will win the war!

[gunner55]

Freezing light rain here now. With the storm wrap around & colder temps the next round of snow will be dry/fluffly There's going to be some pretty serious drifting by mornnig. Wouldn't be surprised if school is at least late tomorrow

[leechlake]

50 minutes medina to apple Valley no cars on road at Rush hour. Very surprising. 

[chasineyes]

17 hours ago, nofishfisherman said:

I spent my younger years divided between Duluth, the Metro Area, and Moorhead.  However each place we lived was in town and we didn't have the money for snowmobiles and ATV's.   Also during that stretch of storms no one was out riding anywhere.  The wind was blowing steady at 30+ mph with temps well below zero.  I remember my dad and I out shoveling the driveway with windchills around -60.  You could only be out for a short time before having to go back inside.  On one occasion my eyes starter to water from the wind and between the tears, blowing snow, and cold my eye lid actually froze shut.  I had to go inside and hold a warm washcloth on it to melt the ice.

Is it just me or do we NOT see those kick your arse storms anymore??  I kind of miss them.  However, last night I

realized living in the metro now, it really is kind of boring.  You can only shovel the drive so much...

[RebelSS]

Looks like I did well on my predic of 7" of snow...official total is 6.5", not the 10-12" they were yappin' about. I'm showing about 6" on my deck. Just about right. 

[leechlake]

Storm theory I talked to others about last night.  Back 30 years ago we had a lot of rear wheel drive cars and sometimes cars wouldn't start.  Now you turn the key and it just goes and we have AWD, FWD, four wheel drive.

All those things made the storms seem bigger and badder.  I still think we've had fewer storms.

[RebelSS]

Plus the fact that people are wusscakes. That makes everything bigger and badder to them. 

The wimpypups have all schools,churches, and daycare closed again. 6 1/2" snow. Incredible. Must me afraid of getting a widdle snow on their itty bitty Hello Kitty stocking caps. 

Edited February 3, 2016 by RebelSS