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Slipping and sliding

Winter storm adds to tally of highway crashes in area

Photo by Karin Elton Monday night’s snowstorm led to icy conditions on area roads, and a number of crashes were reported Monday and Tuesday. Marshall firefighters, medical responders and law enforcement were at the scene of a crash along Minnesota Highway 23 in Marshall on Tuesday morning.

MARSHALL — The winter storm that blew into southwest Minnesota on Monday evening created some difficult travel conditions lasting into Tuesday. Icy and snowy road conditions helped lead to multiple crashes around the Marshall area, including one with injuries reported in Marshall.

Ice and wind also factored into a power outage that affected many Lyon-Lincoln Electric Cooperative customers late Monday afternoon.

The National Weather Service office in Sioux Falls reported that between 1 and 3 inches of snow fell in the Marshall region Monday, with around three inches of snow falling in areas of Murray County and Redwood County. The Marshall wastewater treatment plant reported that .9 inches of snow fell in Marshall.

Marshall Police said slippery road conditions contributed to multiple crashes in town.

Injuries were reported in one crash that happened Tuesday morning, near Southwest State University. In that incident, a pickup truck ended up in the ditch along Minnesota Highway 23, around 8:27 a.m.

Additional crashes that caused property damage were reported within Marshall on Monday evening, Marshall Police reported. One happened at the intersection of Main Street and Minnesota Highway 23 at 7:34 p.m. Another crash was reported at the intersection of East College Drive and Tiger Drive at 8:20 p.m. On Tuesday morning, two more crashes were reported near SMSU.

Marshall Police cautioned drivers to slow down in the slippery road conditions, and allow for a longer stopping distance.

Lyon County and Marshall Police reports from Monday evening through Tuesday morning included several crashes on area highways.

Four crashes were reported along the U.S. Highway 14 corridor, near Tracy and Balaton. All of those crashes were reported between 5 and 7 p.m. The Minnesota State Patrol also reported a crash at the intersection of Lyon County Road 9 and Lyon County Road 6 at 6:22 p.m. Monday.

Lyon-Lincoln Electrical Cooperative also had power outages on Monday afternoon that affected around 900 cooperative members, said Brian Jeremiason of LLEC. Ice and wind caused transmission lines to gallop. Power was temporarily knocked out at the East River Electric substation near Marshall, and at substations near Ghent and Lynd as well. Jeremiason said the outage lasted a little less than an hour.

Icy road conditions continued into Tuesday morning. The Minnesota Department of Transportation reported drifting snow and ice on area highways, as well as wind speeds averaging more than 20 miles per hour.

The area weather outlook for the rest of the week isn’t as snowy, although the National Weather Service forecast wind gusts as high as 30 miles per hour on Wednesday. The forecast in the Marshall area this week is for partly or mostly sunny skies, with daytime high temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees. There is a slight chance of snow on Thursday night, the National Weather Service said.

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