Richfield Schools to Start On Time Despite 11 Inches of Snow

Unfortunately for Richfield students, local school start times have not been changed Monday, despite the nearly 11 inches of snow that fell in town Sunday. As of 6 a.m., none of Richfield's private or public schools had announced any closures or delays.

As many current and former Richfield Public Schools students know, snow days are few and far between in this town. While Academy of Holy Angels students generally see more snow days, given the fact that student live all over the metro area, they will also be in school as usual Monday.

Officially, 10.5 inches fell at the airport Sundy, according to the National Weather Service. With 1 inches being measured in Bloomington.

In fact, the Twin Cities won the snow lottery on Sunday with nearly every town in the metro area getting between 10 and 15 inches of snow. Compared to last year, Sunday's storm was a snow-mageddon event. The deepest single-day snowfall in the Twin Cities last winter was 4.2 inches on Dec. 3, 2011.

Yesterday's storm was also a record of sorts. The 10.2-inches of snow at the international airport—the official site of record for the NWS—marks just the 21st time since 1884 that a calendar day in the Twin Cities has seen 10 or more inches of snow. Let's repeat: the amount of snow received on Sunday has happened only 20 other times in 128 years.

Traffic on Monday morning is expected to be a disaster, with very icy conditions as temperatures are forecast to plummet into the single-digits tonight. Also, many side-streets in Richfield may still be in the process of getting dug out—again.

(Take a look at our real-time traffic monitor before venturing out to work. You can also visit MnDoT's website: 511mn.org.)

Thanks to the storm, as of 8 p.m. Sunday, 597 crashes had been reported statewide, with 61 involving injuries and one fatality, according to Lt. Eric Roeske, of the State Patrol. Almost 970 spinouts and slides off slippery roads also were reported, he said.

Who had the most snow? As of 8 p.m. Sunday, Columbus Township, in Anoka County, reported 16 inches of snow. Forest Lake had 13.5 inches. Chanhassen, Excelsior and Burnsville all reported about 12 inches.