A couple of inches of snow, following rain last night. Traffic nightmare.

[MineralMan]

Welcome to the Minneapolis St. Paul metro area, home of the 2018 Superbowl. It's the first snow and cold weather of this season, and the usual has occurred. The combination of rain last night, followed by a quick drop of temperature and then by a relatively small amount of snow is the perfect combination for rush hour gridlock.

And that combination has done its job very effectively. Local news is full of freeways turned into slow-moving parking lots.

And the Superbowl is coming in early February. That's our absolute coldest time of year. Now, it may be fine and just cold, but it also may be the time for a nice, comfy blizzard. My advice: Watch it on your TV. Really.

Now, I have to go out and make a path to the car with ice-melt salt, shovel the sidewalks and driveway, and try not to slip and fall in the process. It's exciting, for sure. First winter storm and all that.

Yay!

[sharp_stick]

1. Damn, I just checked traffic

in Minneapolis on Google Maps. It doesn't look like anybody is going anywhere. The entire region is pretty much stopped.

I think I'd take a "working at home" day.

Stay safe.

[MineralMan]

2. I always work at home.

I do have to go to the supermarket later today, but things will be more or less back to normal by then.

[sharp_stick]

3. Good

It's terrible with nice fresh snow over a layer of ice.

[CentralMass]

4. Pick up some YakTrax

https://yaktrax.implus.com

[MineralMan]

5. I have 'em. They're on my insulated boots.

In about 15 minutes, I'll be putting those on to go out and deal with this. Thanks!

[Kimchijeon]

8. Ooh! Those look great

Thanks for a perfect gift idea there. 😀

[Codeine]

15. Whoa! Tire chains for boots!

That's a great idea.

[Kimchijeon]

6. Just thankful for the mild winter so far

Could always be (and it will get) worse... Here we go twin cities, at last it feels like December ❄

[MineralMan]

7. We're used to it, of course, but it's a new deal every year.

The first snowstorm always ends up like this on the roads. We forget.

[Kimchijeon]

9. Yep you are so right

Welcome to Winter!

[monmouth4]

10. 78 degrees right now in West Palm. C'mon down! n/t

[NCTraveler]

20. Just across the coast from you.

Stunning Florida weather today.

[monmouth4]

27. Gorgeous and little to no wind...n/t

[Thor_MN]

11. I suppose that I should take some small pleasure in not having to particpate,

but the reason is getting laid off recently and not finding another job, so...

[frazzled]

12. Boy, you Minnesotans are getting soft

Back in my day (we lived in Mpls. from 1985 to 1999), a few inches of snow in December didn't faze anyone, and it was an unwritten rule that you didn't remark on it. We were proud of our snow. The elderly lady across the street would just get out her shovel (you know, where the women are strong), and we'd pick-axe the ice off our sidewalks.

Heck, we lived through the Great Halloween snowstorm of 1991: 29 inches of snow in one fell swoop on trick-or-treat night in October through the following morning. The next day, we couldn't even get our front door open from the drifts, and had to call the neighbors to come dig us out. It was great: we all sat around drinking cocoa and running out at intervals to help with neighbors. We didn't find our jack-o-lanterns again until the following April. In 1986, the temperature had already fallen below zero by November 11. 8-foot-high drifts were a weekly occurrence at the bottom of our driveway. Wind chills of 60 below were not uncommon. Climate change apparently has made the hearty Minnesotan into weaklings!!

?w=525&h=400

[zeusdogmom]

13. Minnesota winter

Nothing like it - although neighboring states are similar.😄

Heading to MN a few days before Christmas. I, aka Nana, need to go where the grandchild is. And yes I could move to Minneapolis but that is a whole 'nother story. I lived there my first 24 years of life. I distinctly remember the bone numbing cold, frostbitten fingers, and digging out vehicles. And not being able to wear long pants to school - including college because I was a Home Ec major and we were required to wear professional looking dresses or suits (not pant suits) to class. Trust me pantyhose do not keep one warm in winter. I did not last long in that department full of silly ideas such as the afore mentioned dress code.

That being said I hope we have a winter with appropriate cold temps and a good snow cover. Our Earth will be much happier.

[mac56]

14. I commute each day from just north of Cambridge to Midway St Paul.

Typically a 1:15 drive.

Today = 4:15.

Yeesh.

[geardaddy]

23. Oh man. That sucks.

Normally my commute is 20 minutes. Today it was an hour and a half. It took me a half an hour to go on Lake Street from East Calhoun Blvd to where Lake splits into Excelsior Blvd and Minnetonka Blvd. Then I tried getting on 100, but it was so backed up that I took surface roads to get to Hwy 7, which was fairly clear. Then when I got to 169 it was another half our to go a mile.

[mac56]

28. 100 can be awful even in the best conditions.

My mom lives in SLP, so I'm very familiar with both 7 and 100.

[Codeine]

16. Stories like yours remind me

of why I'll never move back to Wyoming. Southern California has a fair number of issues, but you northern types can keep your snow, thanks.

[Tipperary]

17. I have always wanted to visit Minnesota. I guess this time of year is not the best time eh?

Be careful and try not to slip!

[geardaddy]

24. Actually, this time of year is great!

If you like cold and snow like I do.

[NCTraveler]

18. Stay safe.

Nothing safe about ice on the ground.

[irisblue]

19. You clear a grassy spot for your dogs?

Aren't they short legged dogs?

[geardaddy]

21. Took me an hour and half to go from Uptown to St. Louis Park this morning.

All the roads were backed up.

[Brother Buzz]

22. Pfft, .10 inch of rain after a long drought on Southern California freeways.....

and they start talking about declaring a disaster. Bumper cars, baby!

[geardaddy]

25. Did you see that the Met Council is only letting game ticket holder ride the light rail

on game day? How are all the people who work at the stadium and surrounding bars, hotels, and restaurants going to get to work?

[LeftInTX]

26. Ice is nasty

Is it very common up in Minneapolis? (Of course, the exception is ice patches on roads)

It was not common in Wisconsin. I remember in Wisconsin, it would snow when temps were like 36 degrees. (It wouldn't stick) Of course, we had ice patches on roads due to freeze-thaw.

Ice is fairly common in Texas. It will rain around here when it is 28 degrees, so we get freezing rain instead of snow.