St. Paul, West St. Paul, Minneapolis declare snow emergencies

Frederick Melo, Pioneer Press
Updated ·1 min read
5

The Twin Cities’ first serious winter storm of the season on Tuesday snarled traffic, closed schools and caused delays at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

With snowfall totals topping 6 inches in some areas of the metro by 3 p.m., several cities had declared snow emergencies, including St. Paul, West St. Paul, Minneapolis, Richfield and Bloomington.

In St. Paul, night plow routes were scheduled to be plowed beginning at 9 p.m. Tuesday, including all of downtown. Vehicles not moved from night plow routes were subject to being ticketed and towed. Day plow routes were scheduled for plowing at 8 a.m. Wednesday. More information, including a sign-up for text alerts, is online at stpaul.gov/snow.

West St. Paul imposed no parking rules, enforced by towing, on major streets such as Annapolis, Dodd, Robert and Stryker beginning at 2 a.m. Wednesday and enforceable by towing until fully plowed. No parking on all other streets and alleys was scheduled to go into effect at 8 a.m. Wednesday until the street is fully plowed or until 8 p.m., whichever comes first.

Meanwhile, runways at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport have closed due to heavy snowfall and low visibility, according to the MSP Airport Twitter feed. Travelers should check on their individual flights for cancelations and delays.

Snowfall totals in St. Paul were expected to top out between 6 and 10 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

St. Paul Public Schools and the West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan school district canceled most after school activities, while other metro districts dismissed students early.

In Stillwater, students were released from school about noon, and all after-school activities and evening events were canceled on Tuesday.

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