Dec. 10, 2021

The winter storm moving across central and southern Minnesota is already affecting highways. MNDOT says a seven-vehicle crash shut lanes on Interstate 35 near Faribault Friday. Officials are reporting snow-covered roads across the southern third of Minnesota.

"Driving may be challenging in those areas not just because of the snow, but heavy winds too," says MPR meteorologist Nicole Mitchell. "Southern Minnesota could get some gusts up to 20 mph. In the Twin Cities we could see some gusts in the teens. So it's not going to be one of those systems where the blowing snow is horrible."

Mitchell says roads will be messy because snowplows won't be able to keep up with this much snow this fast — especially Friday afternoon and evening where we expect "heavy bands" of several inches per hour.

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