MANKATO — The Mankato region was hit twice in five days with hazardous winter driving conditions, late-afternoon Thursday with a blizzard and early Monday morning with freezing rain.
“We did have a little bit of rain that iced over the roads this morning,” said Bill Borghoff, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen, on Monday. “There were some roads closed. Certainly there were some slick spots across southern Minnesota.”
He said the NWS issued a special weather statement Sunday afternoon warning of a light wintry mix overnight that could lead to slick spots on the Monday commute. That was updated to a winter weather advisory Monday morning.
However, the above-freezing temperatures helped the situation from becoming too dire, he said.
A Minnesota Department of Transportation official echoed the sentiment, saying there were some early-morning road closures in the Mankato region on Monday due to cars in ditches but that the weather and driving conditions weren’t as bad as they are during a blizzard.
Most area schools delayed start time by two hours.
Crews were out applying salt to area roads as early as 3 a.m. Monday, said Scott Morgan, MnDOT’s assistant district engineer for maintenance.
Highway 19 east and west of Henderson was temporarily closed due to spinouts and crashes, and northbound Highway 60/169 on the west side of Mankato was shut down while vehicles were pulled from the ditch, Morgan said. Highway 169 north of St. Peter also was impacted.
In the Mankato-St. Peter area there were other roads with no travel advised, especially to the north, Morgan said.
“We had freezing rain and it iced up our roads,” he said midday Monday. “Most are now in normal condition. We’re getting back to normal.”
From 1 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday in the Mankato region, the State Patrol recorded 23 property-damage crashes, two injury crashes, 16 vehicles off the road and one jack-knifed semi, said Sgt. Troy Christianson. He said the freezing rain likely caught commuting drivers off guard.
“It’s important people are aware to make sure to increase your following distance this time of year,” he said. “Drive the speed that’s safe for the conditions and check the weather.”
Morgan agreed, urging drivers to check 511 for weather reports before heading out. He also advised to drive slower and allow space for plows.
“We’ve already had several plow trucks get hit this winter, so we’re reminding people to watch out and slow down,” he said.
Last week’s blizzard was probably worse than Monday’s freezing rain, Christianson said. The blizzard was more prolonged than the ice.
During last week’s blizzard, forecasts changed abruptly when the National Weather Service staff realized visibility was worsening, much more so than they had initially predicted.
Borghoff said the NWS was predicting snow, but it was heavier than expected.
He said the Weather Service had forecasted strong winds and also had issued a winter weather advisory. But visibility narrowing to a quarter mile is when a blizzard warning is disseminated, he said.
“I think the biggest concern was how heavy the falling snow became,” he said. “Once that started to become evident — that we were going to have steadier snow that far south — then the alarms went off. We needed that extra oomph of falling snow to get visibility as low as it turned out.”
Going forward, Christianson said drivers need to be aware that during this time of year we sometimes see “refreeze” on the roads. People need to pay special attention to bridge decks and on/off ramps.
“Those will typically freeze up before the main lines do,” he said.