WILLMAR -- A combination of fog and ice created a wintery mix minus the snow across west central Minnesota late Monday night and early Tuesday morning.
The limited visibility and slick roads delayed schools in some areas and caused headaches for others during their commutes.
The National Weather Service out of Chanhassen issued a winter weather advisory for central Minnesota Monday because of areas of dense fog, freezing fog and freezing drizzle. The advisory was cancelled at 3:50 p.m. Tuesday after conditions across much of the state improved.
The weather, however, led to the some school delays. Yellow Medicine East, Montevideo, KMS, BOLD, Redwood Falls, Echo Charter School, MACCRAY, RCW and Belview Learning Center all delayed classes, according to KWLM radio reports.
Willmar area schools were not delayed, but Superintendent Kathy Leedom said she began conversations with the district's major bus contractor between 5 and 5:30 a.m. After examining the conditions, Leedom said the decision was made to start school on time. However, weather conditions didn't get any better.
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"At 6:30 a.m. conditions had really deteriorated," she said.
The slippery roads kept other departments busy. Willmar Police Department had four reported crashes Tuesday morning and tow trucks were busy throughout the night.
Faith Wilson, owner and dispatcher at Ed's Service Center, said calls were steady from 8 p.m. Monday through the early morning hours of Tuesday. She said tows were taking much longer than normal because of the poor driving conditions.
"People have to get retrained," Wilson said about the conditions. She said many people probably think it's still too warm for ice. "It's really quite deceiving," and treacherous, she said.
