Crews respond to winter storm

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - The first major snowfall event of the season has finally caused shovels, snowblowers and plows to come out of the shed.

This past weekend saw freezing rain create unstable wintry conditions, but Thursday’s snowfall made for a long morning for drivers and MnDOT alike.

“We were out at 3 o’clock this morning, 3 a.m. We had a little freezing rain, a little rain this morning before it turned to snow. You’re going to have some areas that are nice and some that are a little slippery,” said MnDOT’s Bryan Lillie.

MnDOT said that the winter weather takes some adjustment time for everyone, and wants everyone to take extra time for commutes and increase following distance.

Those rules also apply to snowplows.

The large trucks will be a common sight all winter long, and it’s advised to stay out of the way and let the plows clear the roads on their own.

“If they happen to hit some drifts or some snow that’s, the road is fine and you run into where there’s stick on it and they start plowing and they make a big cloud, snow-cloud and you might not see the trucks, you won’t be able to see where they’re at so give the quite a bit more distance than you normally do,” Lillie said.

MnDOT reminds drivers to check 511 before heading our for up-to-date road conditions. And as always, keep the KEYC First Alert Weather app handy for the latest weather conditions.

Click here to download the KEYC News Now app or our KEYC First Alert weather app.