Local impacts of Tuesday’s snowfall

(ABC 6 News) – Snow has been consistently falling since this morning, with communities in Steele, Dodge, and Freeborn counties particularly seeing a lot of snowfall.

MnDOT crews from all across the state have been out and about since 3 am Tuesday.

“We’ve got 102 snow plows across southeast Minnesota. Right now, they just wanna keep getting the snow off the road,” MnDOT spokesperson Mike Dougherty explains.

As of Tuesday afternoon, reports of 2 inches of snowfall in Austin and Byron came in. Waseca had a report of nearly 4 inches.

Salt truck and plow truck drivers will be working into the night with 12-hour shifts until the snow clears.

“They’re just scraping that snow off them until it stops. Then they’ll start putting snow down and that sort of thing.”

While the snow stops falling by Wednesday afternoon, we are still going to have gusty winds that will make travel difficult.

Measures have been taken to protect roads from getting more covered.

MnDOT says barriers like bails of hay and hills on farms help protect snow from blowing or accumulating on roadways.

Physical snow barriers are expected to be added north of Rochester on Highway 52 and I-90 between Dover and Eyota.

In the meantime, while crews work to clear the roads MNDOT asks that you give them the space and patience to do so. Dougherty wants the job done just as fast as anyone else. “The public has come to expect our roads to be cleared very promptly after snow storms, so that’s what we work towards.”

According to MNDOT, it’s also recommended to wait until the snowfall has stopped before attempting to get rid of it. The city of Rochester says you have 24 hours to clear your sidewalks after the snow stops or you could face a fine.