Winter storm warning for St. Paul, no emergency yet

With 3.1 inches of snow falling in a 24-hour period, the Twin Cities are under a winter storm warning until noon Tuesday and are facing record snowfall for February.

As of noon Monday, the city of Saint Paul had not declared a snow emergency.

From Sunday to Tuesday, the total amount of snow is expected to reach anywhere from 5 to 9 inches, which could mean tough trekking for students and extra work for St. Thomas’ grounds crew.

“This is the most salt we’ve ever used,” one grounds crew worker said.

At 8 a.m. Monday, the accumulated snow depth was 14 inches while the average snow depth for the month is 7.1 inches.

The record snowfall for Feb. 8 was set in 1905 at 5 inches. That record could potentially be broken today.

Ben Katzner can be reached at bekatzner@stthomas.edu