March in Minnesota; Austin sees close to 10 inches of snow from early spring storm
Published 10:21 am Thursday, March 24, 2016
A shot of Main Street looking north at about 5:30 a.m. The plows were just getting out, but there were substantial drifts on the sidewalks and around the sides of the buildings. Photo provided by Matt Freechack
Austin and Mower County dug out and area schools were closed Thursday after an early spring storm brought rain, ice and just short of 10 inches of snow in Austin.
Early National Weather Service reports tallied 9.8 inches of snow in Austin and 9 inches in Grand Meadow. Just southwest of Austin a report of 7 inches was reported.
The system arrived as a mix of rain and sleet throughout much of Wednesday, which coated area roads in ice, before the system turned entirely to snow late Wednesday and overnight.
Blooming Prairie, Grand Meadow, Hayfield-Brownsdale, LeRoy-Ostrander, Lyle Schools and Southland schools were all closed Thursday. Austin Public Schools is off this week for spring break.
Adams, Blooming Prairie and LeRoy clinics all opened at 10 a.m., and Austin Public Library opened at noon.
Across the region, the highest snow fall totals appear to have fallen in Winona and Wabasha counties and into West Central Wisconsin. Wabasha saw 11 inches, while Gooview saw a foot.
Areas in northeast Iowa received more ice and some power outages were reported there. About 3 inches was reported in St. Ansgar, Iowa.
The Minnesota State Patrol reported via Twitter that between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Wednesday, 171 crashes had been reported statewide with 27 injured and no fatals.
A snowblower clears a path through the gathered snow in the middle of Second Street NE Thursday morning as last night’s storm moved out of the region. Austin received between 7 and 10 inches of snow. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
UPDATE: Snow emergency canceled
A snow emergency started for the city of Austin at 8 a.m. Thursday, but it has since been canceled.
