GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — Freezing precipitation led to dangerously icy roads and numerous crashes on Saturday morning across the Twin Cities metro area and the entire state of Minnesota.
The State Patrol was reporting 357 crashes across the state between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Saturday morning, including two deadly crashes, 34 crashes with injury, and 13 jacknifed semis.
The State Patrol reported an additional 113 crashes on Saturday, between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m - including 9 with injuries and 121 spin outs.
Total crashes now stand at 470 across the state.
MnDOT lifted a "no travel advisory" for the Twin Cities metro area by 12:30 p.m., however, both MnDOT and the Minnesota State Patrol advised motorists to continue to use caution on the roads.
Eden Prairie police were among the agencies advising against travel during the morning hours, after some of its own squad cars were involved in crashes while responding to other emergencies. Eden Prairie police said the officers weren't hurt.
Slick roads caused a school bus in Eden Prairie to slide through an intersection. Eden Prairie police said children were on the bus, but no one was hurt.
"Lots of cars in the ditch. Plows were getting stuck," said Joe Watters of CB Services, who was salting a parking lot in Plymouth Saturday morning. "This isn't the worst I've seen, but this is pretty bad."
The National Weather Service noted that while temperatures were warming above freezing across the metro by late morning, it would take awhile longer for road surfaces to catch up.
KARE 11 meteorologist Laura Betker said the precipitation was forecast to change over to all rain throughout the remainder of Saturday and into Sunday.
