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Heavy snow driven by wind gusting to 40 mph
brought parts of the upper Midwest to a halt Tuesday, closing
courts, schools, businesses and a major highway.


      Up to a foot of snow was forecast Tuesday for parts of eastern
North Dakota and western Minnesota.


      The National Weather Service posted blizzard warnings and winter
storm warnings for wide areas of North Dakota, South Dakota and
Minnesota. All three states reported school closings.

 Transportation officials say they're closing the westbound lane of I-94 from Steele to Jamestown. 
Earlier Tuesday, they shut down a 130-mile
stretch of I-94 from Jamestown, N.D., to Fergus Falls, Minn. 

Highway 10 from Moorhead to Lake Park
and Highway 210 from Fergus Falls to Breckenridge are also closed. 

 North Dakota officials said Interstate 29 from the Canadian line
to the South Dakota border would be closed through Wednesday
morning.


      Truck driver Kyle Kraft had planned a quick trip from
Princeville, Ill., to Fargo and back on Tuesday but had to pull
into a hotel parking after I-94 was closed.


      "The truck stops are jammed-packed with no place to park,"
Kraft said.


      Kraft had packed only his shaving kit. He said he was relieved
to discover a shopping mall across the street from his parking
place - but it was shut down because of the storm. 

"I guess you
have to take it all in stride. I don't get paid enough to get upset
about it," he said.


      It was the worst storm of the winter, said Clay County, Minn.,
Sheriff Bill Bergquist. He said plows were pulled off most county
roads because visibility was zero.


      He said the storm even shut down a popular hangout known for its
trademark frozen desserts, the Moorhead Dairy Queen. "It must be
bad. No one wants their Blizzard today," Bergquist said.


      Fargo snowplow crews could not keep up with drifting snow,
public works maintenance supervisor Lee Anderson said. "It's not
pretty," he said.


      Fargo residents were advised to just stay home.


      "I would say it's a pretty good idea to be stocking up on
groceries right now," Fargo resident Mark Walker said as he
stopped to use an ATM machine.


      "Today would be a great day for people to enjoy maybe a movie
at home," West Fargo Police Chief Arland Rasmussen said.


      Rasmussen said most businesses in the area did not open Tuesday
or closed early, and even North Dakota State University shut down.


      "That really made a difference. NDSU usually doesn't close,"
Rasmussen said.


      The weather service said wind was blowing at 30 mph at Fargo,
with gusts to 40 mph. The midmorning temperature was 4 below zero
with a wind chill factor of 30 below.


      Police in South Dakota said icy pavement likely caused an
accident Tuesday that killed one man on a rural road. On Monday, an
ambulance rolled over on an icy stretch of I-94 west of Fargo,
killing the patient it was carrying.

MPR meteorologist Paul Huttner says the Twin Cities metro area should miss the brunt of the storm, but the North Shore should be bracing for some winter weather.

"One interesting facet to this storm that they are warning about in Duluth and the North Shore, is that once these northeast winds crank around, they may actually push some ice from Lake Superior up onto the shore line.  So they are highlighting that in some of the discussions from the Duluth office today," said Huttner. 

Gallery

Weather and Climate News

Heavy snow driven by wind gusting to 40 mph
brought the Fargo-Moorhead area to a halt Tuesday, closing courts, schools, businesses and a major highway.

Snow closes businesses, highways in upper Midwest

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