GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — It was late arriving, but the winter storm system that rolled into Minnesota and western Wisconsin Thursday is exceeding expectations.
The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning for much of Minnesota, including Hennepin County, through midnight on Friday.
Minneapolis and St. Paul Public Schools, among others, canceled classes for Friday due to the expected wind chills and difficult transportation.
Thursday night saw our biggest snowfall of the season so far at 5.7 inches. Winds of up to 15 miles per hour are creating wind chills of about -25 to -30 Friday morning.
Many areas in western Minnesota are marked as "Travel Not Advised" by the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
Other areas are showed as completely covered with snow, or have alerts for fog, high wind, snow and rain.
The Minnesota State Patrol offered a warning Thursday afternoon about the evening commute, asking drivers to check traffic maps before they hit the road.
From 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. across Minnesota, the state patrol responded to 149 crashes, seven of which involved injuries. They also responded to 294 vehicles spun out or off the road, and 19 jackknifed semis.
At about 2 p.m., a crash on Highway 284 south of Waconia knocked down some power lines and closed the highway in both directions.
Also on Thursday afternoon, a truck apparently slid through an intersection at 46th and Nicollet in South Minneapolis, striking a sign on the sidewalk just feet from Sun Street Breads.
Co-owner Martin Ouimet said nobody appeared to be injured.
"Clearly, if the guy had come through a little bit fast, if anyone had been coming through the sidewalk, it would have been a mess," Ouimet said.
RELATED: Here's the latest forecast
The heavier-than-expected snowfall and increasing winds caused nearly 200 school districts across the state to either close, release students early or cancel nighttime sports and activities. Minneapolis and St. Paul didn't hesitate, declaring Snow Emergencies before noon. A number of communities across the Twin Cities followed suit.
A weather-related crash involving a semi on westbound I-94 near St. Michael caused a complete shutdown of the interstate for more than 3 hours. MnDOT Traffic's Twitter feed documented dozens of crashes and fender benders, snarling traffic on the system.
The Minnesota State Patrol shared a photo Thursday of a plow that had been rear-ended by a semi on Highway 52 north of Rochester.
By afternoon on Friday, the wind chill is only expected to improve to about 20 below zero.
Overnight temps will dip to even colder readings.Saturday should see warmer afternoon temps, near 10.
Next week is looking warmer to start with temps in the 20s to near 30 but another big storm system could be headed our way by Tuesday.
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