Southern Minnesota hit by band of heavy snow

Residents of southern Minnesota were digging out and driving was discouraged after a storm Friday morning brought not only up to a foot of fresh snow, but thunder and lightning at the same time.

Among the hardest hit towns were Albert Lea, Mantorville and Rochester, which each got about 12 inches of snow by early afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

Other cities were also blanketed: Kiester and Kasson each with about 11 inches, Oronoco and Zumbro Falls with about 9 inches, Mankato and Lewisville with 8 inches and Owatonna with 7 inches, according to the weather service.

Roads were slick and snow covered across much of the region Friday morning, causing traffic problems. About 9 a.m., the Olmsted County sheriff's office in Rochester recommended that motorists just stay home.

By late afternoon, the storm had pushed east into Wisconsin. The weather service discouraged driving in southeastern Minnesota and southwestern Wisconsin on Friday night, saying it would be "treacherous" due to the snowfall.

The service was predicting partly cloudy skies on Saturday in southern Minnesota with little chance of more snow.

The storm caused some problems for the Freeborn County Highway Department in Albert Lea, said Tim Stapleton, a department engineer.

"We were supposed to be closed for Veterans Day and the snow didn't start 'till 6 a.m., but we called the guys in and all the plows were out a half hour later covering it as fast as they can," he said.

Despite the snow, the Albert Lea schools ran on schedule. Classes were delayed in other towns across the southern third of the state and didn't open at all in Rochester, where there were reports of a rare phenomenon called thundersnow.

"It's still pretty early, it's only Nov. 10, and it's pretty unlikely the accumulations we get now will stick around through the winter," said Byron Paulson of the National Weather Service in Chanhassen.

That was small consolation Friday morning in Mantorville, in Dodge County. With the storm still raging, a sheriff's dispatcher said even a four-wheel-drive vehicle was having trouble climbing the main street in town.

The heavy snows passed south of the Twin Cities, which got only a light dusting.