Storm dumps up to 15.5 inches in southeastern Minnesota

Local news report covering the freakish weather.

http://www.kttc.com/story/22142423/2013/05/02/storm-dumps-up-to-155-inches-in-southeastern-mn

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ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) -- The calendar has flipped to May, but winter has made a return appearance to southeastern Minnesota where residents are digging out of an unseasonable dump of over a foot of wet, heavy snow.

Students in more than 30 school districts are enjoying a rare snow day in May, while utility crews went to work early Thursday to restore power. At one point, RPU estimated between 8,000 and 9,000 customers were without power in Rochester.

Power outages were reported across Freeborn County near Albert Lea as well Thursday.
Highways across the region reported closures and white-out conditions throughout most of the morning Thursday, as crews tried to keep up with heavy snowfall.

MnDOT is even sending plow crews from the Twin Cities to help with the snow removal. At one point, MnDOT advised no unnecessary travel throughout southeastern Minnesota, as numerous slide offs and crashes were reported, as well as cars and trucks getting stuck.

The storm largely missed the Twin Cities, where only some eastern and southeastern suburbs got clipped. But the National Weather Service says here in Rochester, some areas reported 15.5 inches; the Owatonna area got up to 15.5 inches of snow as well, while Red Wing and Albert Lea got 10 inches, and Hastings and Farmington got more than 8 inches.

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