Star Tribune
No snow emergency in the cities, despite the biggest snowfall of the season. Why?
It looked more like winter in the Twin Cities on Wednesday night and Thursday morning than it did in all of December and January, as the metro area saw the season’s largest snowfall overnight. With temperatures expected to remain below freezing heading into the weekend, it appears winter has finally arrived.
Yet public works officials in Minneapolis and St. Paul decided Thursday against declaring snow emergencies. That’s because conditions are ripe for the snow that’s already on the ground to melt before it becomes too troublesome for drivers, officials in both cities said. And even though Thursday’s forecast high is well below freezing, clear skies mean the sun’s heating the pavement to about 45 degrees.
“Because of pavement temperatures and car traffic, all of the streets are either clear or on their way to getting clear,” St. Paul Public Works Director Sean Kershaw said.
The lack of snow this season has also given public works crews in Minneapolis and St. Paul an opportunity to test new street clearing strategies in response to residents’ evolving commuting routines and as climate change affects winter weather patterns in the Twin Cities.
The 6 to 7 inches that fell overnight in the Twin Cities ended the longest January thaw in recent history and made for a slower-than-usual commute as drivers navigated slush-covered roads. The State Patrol responded to several hundred spinouts and crashes from 7 a.m. Wednesday to 7 a.m. Thursday. Still, many metro-area residents were elated on social media as the snowfall marked the first real sign of winter after months of balmy temperatures and dismal accumulation.
Here are five things to know about how city leaders decide whether to declare snow emergencies — and how this winter is different from others.
Do Minneapolis and St. Paul residents have to move their cars?
Nope! Parking restrictions only take effect when officials declare a snow emergency. When they do, it kickstarts a sequence of events that keeps plows off residential streets for hours. Both cities require residents to move their vehicles by 9 p.m., which means that’s the earliest that public works departments and their contractors can begin clearing those roads.
“The bottom line is that by not calling a snow emergency, we’re getting into the residential streets a day earlier,” Kershaw said.
Public works officials in both cities opted Thursday to have plow drivers clear the center lanes throughout the day, and salt the roads as needed.
Joe Paumen, Minneapolis’ transportation, maintenance and repair director, said that deciding whether to declare a snow emergency is something of a balancing act.
“We always ask ourselves: Is it going to be more of a hassle to ask residents to move their cars, versus the benefit we can provide?” he said.
What about snowbanks trapping my vehicle in place?
There’s no more snow in the forecast for the week, which means there’s no risk of snowbanks building up in parking lanes and on sidewalks. Public works officials in St. Paul and Minneapolis say the lack of accumulation has also given them an opportunity to test new plowing routes and techniques since residents in both cities have changed the way they use urban roadways in recent years.
Snow emergency rules originated when urbanites used arterial roads and highways more than they do now. City leaders say they’re looking to change which roads get priority as remote work has taken root and more people live closer to the downtown core in both cities.
“People want us to get into residential streets more quickly,” Kershaw said. “Our traditional snow emergency model has needed updating for some time.”
Where does climate change fit into the equation?
Temperatures well below freezing typically produce light and fluffy snowflakes. But those flakes have become wetter and heavier as winters have gradually warmed. The cities have also seen more rain in January and February, Kershaw said.
That means ice has become more prevalent on roads and sidewalks. Sometimes, it’s because snow melts during the day as temperatures creep above freezing and then drop overnight.
“It’s really a nightmare to clean,” Kershaw said. “It just didn’t snow like that 30 years ago. We’re testing our strategies based on changing snow and climate, and changing expectations.”
Paumen said officials in Minneapolis also keep abreast of changing patterns before adjusting their approach.
“Each snowstorm has been different,” he said. “If we notice long-term trends in the weather, say if it’s getting warmer, we’re always looking to right-size our fleet and techniques to adapt to that.
“But we never make adjustments based on one year.”
What should I keep in my car?
This week’s snowfall was somewhat surprising; initial forecasts had the Twin Cities on track to get about 4 inches at most. With that in mind, it’s never a bad idea to keep a winter kit in the car. Those caches should include a blanket, warm clothes, gloves, flashlight, nonperishable snacks and water.
Drivers should also check fluid levels, tire pressure and battery strength before heading out. As for navigating snowy roads, remember: Drive like Grandma is in the passenger seat wearing a new dress and holding a crockpot full of gravy.
Do I have to shovel my sidewalk?
Yes. Both cities require property owners to clear their sidewalks, even if a snow emergency isn’t declared. If you need help choosing the right shovel, we’ve got a guide for that.
“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, more than 11,000 bridges in communities across America are finally getting the repairs they’ve long needed with funding from our infrastructure law,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in a news release. He said the bridge repairs ensure “people and goods can get where they need to go, safely and efficiently.”
A 19-year-old driver trying to get around slower vehicles collided head-on with an SUV in Wright County and killed one person and injured several others, officials said Thursday.
SUV passenger Janice Evelyn Johnson, 92, of Arden Hills, died Monday at HCMC from injuries she suffered in the collision on Oct. 22 in Monticello Township on County Road 37 near County Road 12, the Sheriff’s Office said in a search warrant affidavit filed in Hennepin County District Court.
The driver and two other people in the SUV survived their injuries, according to the affidavit, which the Sheriff’s Office filed to collect Johnson’s medical records at HCMC as part of its investigation.
According to the affidavit:
Deputies arrived at the crash scene and spoke with the car’s driver, Christian Kabunangu, of Brooklyn Park, who said he was heading west on County Road 37 and found himself behind two vehicles traveling below the speed limit.
“He was late for work, so he decided to pass them,” the affidavit read. Kabunangu said he saw the oncoming SUV and estimated it was about a half-mile down the road.
As he attempted to pass one of the slower vehicles, he explained, the other driver “sped up, preventing him from getting back into the westbound lane,” the filing continued.
As the Honda drew near, he swerved to the left, but the SUV did the same and they collided.
Star Tribune
University of Minnesota researchers find that native plants can beat invasive buckthorn on their own turf.
If the invasive buckthorn that is strangling the life out of Minnesota’s forest floor has a weakness, it is right now, in the shortening daylight of the late fall.
With a little help and planning, certain native plants have the best chance of beating buckthorn back and helping to eradicate it from the woods, according to new research from the University of Minnesota.
The sprawling bush has been one of the most formidable invasive species to take root in Minnesota since it was brought from Europe in the mid-1800s. It was prized as an ornamental privacy hedge. All the attributes that make buckthorn good at that job — dense thick leaves that stay late into the fall, toughness and resilience to damage and pruning, unappealing taste to wildlife and herbivores — have allowed it to thrive in the wild.
It grows fast and thick, out-competing the vast majority of native plants and shrubs for sunlight and then starving them under its shade. It creates damaging feedback loops, providing ideal habitat and calcium-rich food for invasive earthworms, which in turn kill off and uproot native plants. That leaves even less competition for buckthorn to take root, said Mike Schuster, a researcher for the university’s Department of Forest Resources.
When it takes over a natural area, buckthorn creates a “green desert,” Schuster said. “All that’s left is just a perpetual hedge, with little biodiversity.”
Since the 1990s, when the spread became impossible to ignore, Minnesota foresters, park managers and cities have spent millions of dollars a year trying to beat it back. They’ve used chainsaws and trimmers, poisons and herbicides, and even goats for hire. The buckthorn almost always grows back within a few years.
It’s been so pervasive that a conventional wisdom formed that buckthorn seeds could survive dormant in the soil for up to six years. That thought has led to a sort of fatalism: even if the plant were entirely removed from a property there would be a looming threat that it would sprout back, Schuster said.
But there is nothing special about buckthorn seeds. They only survive for a year or two.
