"I'd prefer this to being stuck on the 405 (a Los Angeles-area Interstate highway) said Heather McLean, formerly from Los Angeles and now living in Stillwater, as she shovels snow Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. "It's still better than the freeways, that's for sure! (Jean Pieri / Pioneer Press)

Three men try to dig out a stuck car in the parking lot of a Lunds & Byerlys store in Highland Village Center, as more snow falls in St. Paul on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

Jon Fila falls forward as he tries to carry his son's Odin and Arthur's sleds up a sledding hill by Stillwater Junior High School Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. (Jean Pieri / Pioneer Press)

Snow covers an outdoor table at a MacDonalds on West Seventh Street in St. Paul, Feb. 20, 2019. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

"Winter Wonderland day!" said 25-year-mail carrier Amy Fuller as she walks down a street in Stillwater to deliver mail to 380 houses, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. (Jean Pieri / Pioneer Press)



All is quiet on the St. Croix River waterfront in Stillwater during a snowstorm Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. (Jean Pieri / Pioneer Press)

Pedestrians walk past piles of snow outside the Rondo Community Library as more snow falls in St. Paul on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. The National Weather Service expects the Twin Cities to get anywhere from 6 to 10 inches of snow Wednesday, which would assure a record total for any February since records have been kept. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

Laura Holmes, left, and her daughter, Bailey, ski through the streets on the South Hill in Stillwater Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. Laura said she last did this about 10 years ago when there was a lot of snow. (Jean Pieri / Pioneer Press)

A Bobcat driver clears a parking lot near Selby and Snelling Avenues in St. Paul as the snow continues to fall in St. Paul on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

A winter storm hitting the Twin Cities is expected bring 6 to 10 inches inches of snow today.

The storm rolled into St. Paul and Minneapolis in the morning, causing big slowdowns on area roads. Most of southern Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin are under a winter storm warning until 9 p.m. Wednesday.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport closed all its runways Wednesday morning due to quickly falling snow and low visibility. The airport said shortly after 9:30 a.m. that it was able to reopen one of its runways. Travelers were advised to check with their airlines for flight status.

The airport saw 7.8 inches of snow by noon, according to the National Weather Service.

“Snowfall intensity did fall off quite a bit after that, so additional accumulations probably aren’t all that much more,” National Weather Service meteorologist Tyler Hasenstein said just before 4 p.m.

There were several public reports out of St. Paul, ranging from six to 8.5 inches, but no official total as of 3 p.m, Hasenstein added.

PILING ON THE NEW SNOW RECORD

Wednesday’s noon total pushes this month’s total to 30.4 inches — past the Twin Cities’ previous February snowfall record of 26.5 inches in 1962. There are only 10 months on record, not including this month, that have seen more than 30 inches. The top month goes to November of 1991, when 46.9 inches fell.

As for snow depth, Minnesota’s Mississippi headwaters region was already nearing record territory as of last week — with some communities seeing three feet on the ground, easily putting them in the top ten depths on record for mid-February.

The Twin Cities — in particular, the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport — already had 11 inches on the ground on Valentine’s Day. If four more inches sticks to the airport’s grounds by tomorrow — which is quite likely, notes state meteorologist Pete Boulay — that would be the 8th highest snow depth on record for that day.

SNOW EMERGENCIES DECLARED

St. Paul declared a snow emergency beginning at 9 p.m. Wednesday, starting with night plow routes. Crews will tackle day plow routes beginning at 8 a.m. Thursday. Minneapolis has also declared a snow emergency beginning at 9 p.m. Wednesday.

For St. Paul, this is the fourth snow emergency in just as many weeks. But given the light snow earlier in the season, it’s hardly a record: that would be in the 2010-2011 season, when the city declared nine emergencies.

The snow is not expected to taper off until about 7 p.m. Wednesday, the weather service said, noting that hazardous travel conditions can be expected due to snow-covered roads and reduced visibility.

The Minneapolis and St. Paul public school districts canceled classes in anticipation of the storm. St. Paul community centers that normally open at 3 p.m. will open at 1 p.m. Wednesday; the city’s libraries will be open their normal hours.

WILL SCHOOLS MAKE UP MISSED DAYS?

This is the sixth day this school year the St. Paul district has canceled school. That puts its middle and high schools on pace to fall one day short of the statutory minimum instruction hours.

However, there were no consequences for schools that came up short last year, and Gov. Tim Walz has assured schools they won’t be punished this year, either.

Superintendent Joe Gothard said Tuesday he hasn’t looked into scheduling makeup days for the St. Paul district.

“We just want to make it through spring,” he said.

St. Paul’s school year is scheduled to end on June 7, a Friday. Gothard suggested they could make up for missed time without extending the school year.

“We have dates on the calendar but they’re all important days,” Gothard said.

The district has teacher preparation and training days scheduled for March 1 and April 19. Five more days at the start of April are set aside for spring break.

The Anoka-Hennepin, South Washington County, North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale, Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan and Burnsville-Eagan-Savage school districts also canceled Wednesday classes.

PLOW CREWS RACKING UP OVERTIME

In addition to all the snow, overtime for plow crews is also piling up for some cities — though it’s still early in the calendar year to be too much of a concern, some officials noted.

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Frogtown Community Center unveils new artificial turf field, playground and outdoor fun Still, “If we continue to have large snow events this spring, and then also have significant events in the November and December months, we would be seeing some budget issues,” said Justin Miller, Lakeville city administrator.

For cities over normal levels of overtime, such as Mendota Heights, that could mean being forced to make budget adjustments elsewhere, City Administrator Mark McNeill said.

It also takes a toll on staff. At least 10 employees of the Stillwater Public Works Department have earned more than 40 hours of overtime during the last two-week pay period, said Shawn Sanders, public works director.

“They’ll work through every snow event until the job is done,” Sanders said. “When you’re getting big snows every three or four days, it takes a bit of a toll of them. They’ve done what they’ve been asked.”

MORE SNOW ON THE WAY

Another band of snow is expected to blanket the metro over the weekend.

The forecast for the weekend shows snow could begin Friday afternoon and continue off and on throughout the weekend.

Temperatures will be warmer, with highs near 30 on Wednesday, 26 on Thursday, 31 on Friday, 34 on Saturday and 25 on Sunday.

Tad Vezner, Nick Ferraro and Mary Divine contributed to this report.