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An early-season winter storm packing heavy snow, howling winds and falling temperatures continued to sweep across Minnesota late Tuesday, prompting some school districts to delay or cancel classes on Wednesday or move to online learning.
The storm caused hazardous driving conditions and knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses across the state on Tuesday.
Blizzard conditions were possible overnight, with a difficult morning commute expected for much of Minnesota — including the Twin Cities — on Wednesday morning. For people with Thanksgiving travel plans, forecasters said road conditions were likely to improve later in the day on Wednesday.
Some school districts across Minnesota already were off Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. But for those that had classes scheduled, the storm forced some to change plans. Find a list of delays, closings and e-learning days below.
No-travel advisory
Authorities issued a no-travel advisory for west-central Minnesota late Tuesday afternoon, as rain changed to heavy snow and road conditions deteriorated. It was lifted by 9 p.m. Tuesday, though difficult driving conditions continued in the region.
Just before 4 p.m. Tuesday, the Minnesota State Patrol reported that westbound Interstate 94 was closed a few miles east of Moorhead, after a pile-up crash involving several semis. There were no reports of serious injuries; the highway reopened Tuesday evening after a closure of several hours.
To the west, a long stretch of Interstate 29 remained closed Tuesday night south of Fargo, extending into northeastern South Dakota.
Power outages
As of Tuesday night, Minnesota utilities were reporting more than 5,000 homes and businesses without power across the state — mostly in western Minnesota.
Runestone Electric Association, based in Alexandria, reported “a major transmission outage in areas of Douglas, Grant, Pope and Stevens counties” on Tuesday night, affecting about 2,000 customers — in addition to other outages amid the winter storm.
“Crews have reported that travel is very difficult and it will take additional time to reach those in need,” the utility reported.
Wheaton-based Traverse Electric Cooperative also reported outages Tuesday night, but said that “due to diminishing visibility and dangerous weather conditions, we are pulling our crews until it is safe for them to continue working again.”
School delays, closings for Wednesday, Nov. 26
Closed
Alexandria Technical & Community College
Brainerd
Brandon-Evansville
Crosby-Ironton
Esko
Fond du Lac Ojibwe
Fridley
Lac qui Parle Valley
Laporte
Menahga
Nevis
Pine River-Backus
Swanville
Upsala Area
Walker Hackensack Akeley
E-learning day
Barnum
New York Mills
Ortonville
Robbinsdale
University of Wisconsin-Superior
Wahpeton, N.D.
Willow River Area
Two-hour delay
Aitkin
Alexandria
Annandale
Ashby
Detroit Lakes
East Central
Frazee-Vergas
Henning
Isle
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle
Mahnomen
Maple Lake
Onamia
Parkers Prairie
Pelican Rapids
Pequot Lakes
Perham
Pierz
Pillager
Rothsay
Sebeka
Staples-Motley
Underwood
Verndale
Waubun-Ogema-White Earth
Westonka
This list will be updated as additional closings and delays are reported
Forecast updates
MPR News: Live weather blog and real-time radar
National Weather Service: Snowfall reports
Travel conditions
These state transportation departments offer live updates on road conditions and crashes:
For bus and light rail riders in the Twin Cities, Metro Transit offers weather-related updates on its Metro Transit and Metro Transit Alerts Twitter pages, as well as on its website.
Flight updates
If you’re planning to fly from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport or another airport around the region — or if you are expecting visitors to arrive by plane — airports offer flight status updates online:
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