St. Michael Bracing For Up To 12 Inches Of Snow Friday, Saturday

From the Wright County Government:

Posted on: January 15, 2020

Anyone who has been following the weather forecasts are likely aware that a significant snow event is going to hit Minnesota Friday. The National Weather Service is now projecting 8-12 inches of snow for the majority if state. The path of the storm is expected to drop that amount of snow from west of Alexandria to Mankato to the south to the North Shore along Lake Superior to eastern Wisconsin and everywhere in between.

While the storm isn’t expected to arrive for two more days, Wright County Highway Maintenance Superintendent Steve Meyer said the preparation has already begun because the storm is seeing snow total numbers increase as it gets closer.

“We’re getting some different numbers,” Meyer said. “The National Weather Service is saying 8 to 12 inches and Weather Underground is saying 8.4 inches in Wright County. Either way you look at it, they’re looking at this being a 24-hour snow event that is going to start Friday morning and go all the way through to Saturday morning.”

The most recent projections have the snow starting at approximately 8 a.m. Friday with no expectation of breaks in between the start of the storm and when it makes its way out of Wright County Saturday.

What will follow will be brutally cold temperatures that are expected to fall below zero for an air temperature along with sustained winds of 25 miles per hour that will make open areas prone to drifting on roads and highways. With the wind chill factored in, prolonged exposure outside can be dangerous, so travel won’t be advised. But, for those who need to travel, Meyer said his crew will be looking to take on the storm and keep roads in as good of shape as possible.

The plan to take care of Wright County roads will be a four- or five-day process. When the snow that came through the county Wednesday morning passes, plows will be out to clean that up – projections are that only an inch or two is going to come from that – but the real work will start tomorrow.

“On Thursday, we’re going to get the liquid de-icer out and pre-treat our roads,” Meyer said. “It will take us all day to do what we have planned. We’ll have an anti-icing truck out from 7 a.m. until about 9 p.m. to get roads that we have mapped out treated before the snow comes Friday morning.”

Meyer said the western portion of the county won’t get as much treatment because of the wind that is expected and, in flat rural farm areas, treating roads when it is windy is ineffective.

Highway Department trucks will be ready Friday morning and will likely be out on the road before noon. The primary plowing crew is expected to work a 12-hour shift before they are replaced by the night crew that will repeat the process of hitting the roads to remove snow before it can have too much accumulation or freeze to the roadway. Crews will potentially be on the roads for 48 straight hours depending on the severity of the storm when it actually hits Wright County.

Meyer said he will provide further updates as necessary.

This press release was produced by the Wright County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.