Season’s first major snow brings driving woes, no serious accidents

Winter finally came to southeastern Minnesota this week as a snowstorm blew through the area Monday afternoon into Tuesday morning dropping six inches or more of the white stuff.
Despite the snow and gusty winds turning highways and roads slippery, officials reported no major accidents or fatalities.
The National Weather Service office in La Crosse issued a Winter Storm Warning for southeastern Minnesota for Monday afternoon to noon on Tuesday with anticipated snow totals originally approaching or even exceeding the one-foot mark.
Snow was heavy late afternoon Monday and into the evening and by 8 a.m. Tuesday the weather service was reporting six inches had fallen at Mantorville and Byron.
The Rochester Airport reported 7.2 inches. To the west Owatonna reported 5.1 inches and Faribault 8 inches.
Winds were blowing the snow around too with the Dodge Center Airport reporting peak wind gusts of 32 mph.