Dozens of crashes reported Wednesday, black ice a concern for evening commute
Roads were slick across the Twin Cities metro area Wednesday morning.
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Dozens of crashes and spinouts were reported throughout the morning hours, and Minnesota 511 lists road conditions as being completely or partially snow covered in the metro region.
Some roads were also listed as having dry pavement.
The state saw a large amount of snowfall during the past two days, with some parts in northern Minnesota seeing more than a foot of snow.
Chief Meteorologist Ken Barlow says parts of the metro received more than 5 inches of snow Tuesday.
While roads were being treated ahead of the snow, cold weather has arrived, making road treatments ineffective.
A traffic camera shows a crash on eastbound Highway 10 at Hanson Blvd. Credit: MnDOT
Barlow forecast Wednesday’s high temperature to stay in the single digits, with highs in the teens to round out the rest of the workweek before temperatures climb into the 20s and 30s this weekend and into next week.
Overnight lows through Saturday morning are expected to be in the single digits both above and below zero.
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Statewide, the Minnesota State Patrol said, from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, there were 94 crashes. Of those, eight caused injuries and none were serious or fatal. Additionally, there were 44 vehicles that spun out or went off the road.
Earlier, the Minnesota State Patrol said that from 9:30 p.m. Tuesday to 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, there were 101 crashes. Of those, nine had injuries, but none were serious or fatal. In addition, there were 51 vehicles that spun out or went off the road.
The agency also says 351 crashes happened across the state from 5 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, with 35 crashes having injuries. Of those, one was considered as being serious. The state patrol reports there were another 169 vehicles that went off the road or spun out during that same time frame.
Meteorologist Jonathan Yuhas reports black ice is expected to make for difficult Wednesday evening and Thursday morning commutes.
Yuhas added that due to dropping temperatures, road chemicals won’t work as well to prevent slippery conditions.