Skies Threatening, but Rain Stays Away From East Metro Commuters
Posted on: Thursday, 15 June 2006, 15:00 CDT
By Lee Egerstrom, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
Jun. 15--So much for morning sunlight to guide the morning commute. Skies were overcast for the past two hours of the rush hours, and motorists did drove through rain showers in the western and northern suburbs.
A rash of crashes in the last hour of the morning migration rumpled fenders and caused commuters to be late to work with congested roads and slow traffic speeds.
One crash, on Interstate 35 just below the East and West split in Burnsville after 8 a.m., blocked a lane of traffic and put both the St. Paul and Minneapolis legs of the freeway into a slow crawl.
A crash on Interstate 35E at Pennsylvania Avenue made worse the always-congested traffic flow in downtown St. Paul shortly after 8 a.m., and two crashes on Interstate 494 west of the Twin Cities stacked up traffic between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.
The morning commute got off to a decent start with only a couple of minor crashes in the west metro area before 7 a.m. One that extended into the heavier traffic hours was on Minnesota 77 at Minnesota 13 at 6:55 a.m.
But by 7:30 a.m., heavy traffic flows and rain in the west metro area were bringing traffic speeds to a near crawl on busy commuter routes.
The threat of rain remained over the east metro area since the first rays of sun broke through clouds around 5 a.m., but it never turned into a downpour.
A pinkish to reddish horizon over Oakdale and Lake Elmo brought light to St. Paul. The sunrise was a bright yellowish color within half an hour as sunrise moved over St. Paul, but skies south of the Twin Cities were dark.
Downtown St. Paul was dark during most of the final rush hour of from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.
While commuters kept their shoes and tires dry in most metro areas during the morning commute, they may not be so fortunate on the return trip home. The National Weather Service said rain clouds are likely to redevelop during the afternoon, and some metro areas could get heavy rainfall late this afternoon and evening.
Lee Egerstrom can be reached at legerstrom@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5437.
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Copyright (c) 2006, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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Source: Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.)
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