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Winter weather affected Christmas plans for millions of Midwest families, including those in Rock County where roads were closed Thursday afternoon, Dec. 22, through Christmas Eve, Dec. 24.
The storm arrived on the heels of heavy snowfall earlier in the week and brought with it even more snow that combined with sub-zero temperatures with winds gusting over 30 mph to create blizzard conditions.
Christmas programs and school activities were canceled or postponed from Wednesday evening through Saturday morning, and students in area schools were dismissed with e-learning or snow days during the blizzard.
I-90 closed across much of South Dakota Thursday, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation followed suit closing its portion of the interstate from the border to the St. James exit, along with state highways in much of southwest Minnesota.
Eventually, I-90 closed all the way to Albert Lea and state roads closed as far north as Willmar.
No-travel advisories were issued, along with warnings that motorists who needed rescuing would be liable for expenses resulting from their decisions to venture out.
With wind chills hovering around minus 30 degrees, officials warned that outdoor exposure would result in frostbite after only minutes, and that prolonged time in the elements could be deadly.
That didn’t stop some from attempting travel and requiring rescue.
Statewide, between 4:30 p.m. Friday and 11:30 a.m. Saturday, there were 350 crashes, 30 with injuries, 282 spin outs and one jackknifed semi, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. That’s not counting incidents along county and township roads involving local emergency responders.
In Rock County, the Luverne Fire Department was dispatched twice with its new four-door Ranger that’s equipped with tracks.
“The drifts were hard, so it barely sunk in,” said fire chief David Van Batavia. “We were able to drive on top of the snow.”
Just ahead of the storm last week, he said Rock Motor Sports swapped out the UTV’s wheels for tracks.
“It worked really well,” Van Batavia said.
‘I can’t believe anyone would want to live here’
The first call came in around 3:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 23, to rescue two individuals stranded in a semitrailer at 160th Avenue and 91st Street south of the country club.
Van Batavia said the two had driven from the Badlands to Minnesota and were headed back to Nebraska on back roads after I-90 and state highways closed.
“They were pretty far off track,” Van Batavia said.
Their trailer slid into the ditch and after 24 hours in the cab, they were running low on fuel and called for help.
“The one guy was from Kentucky and said he couldn’t understand why anyone would want to live here,” Van Batavia said about the blizzard conditions.
“Our eyelids were freezing to our eyes in no time.”
The Ranger, with its heated interior, travels up to 30 mph on the tracks. It carried Van Batavia and assistant fire chief Jordan Siebenahler to the stranded semi and returned the truckers to the Super 8 in Luverne.
“They were pretty happy to get to the hotel,” he said.
The fire department and its ranger were dispatched again at 2:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 24, for a motorist stranded in a drift on Highway 75 near the Steen blacktop.
The caller reported his Chevy Cruz was stuck in the driving lane and the heater wasn’t working.
Calmer Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve morning, residents awoke to calmer winds and improved visibility, with rural residents seeing a horizon for the first time in nearly two days.
By 11 a.m. I-90 reopened from the South Dakota border to Albert Lea and no-travel advisories were also lifted on state highways in southwest Minnesota.
Motorists were advised that drifting and blowing snow would continue to make travel difficult that day as snowplows worked to clear large snowdrifts.
Further complicating their work were stalled vehicles stuck in drifts and needing to be dug out and towed.