Apple Valley residents romping in 20 inches of fresh snow
APPLE VALLEY, Minn. -- Apple Valley saw the most snow in the metro during this week's storm, with a whopping 20 inches falling.
City officials say it wasn't quite continuous plowing, but it was close, and the job's not done -- especially in the neighborhoods.
People hunkering down went a long way toward making the city's streets drivable Thursday.
"With this event, because it was so big, I think the traveling public heard so much about it that really they stayed home for the most part and stayed off the roads, so I think that did a lot to help us out," said Matt Saam, Apple Valley's public works director.
Meanwhile, families got outside Thursday to enjoy themselves in the winter wonderland.
"It's not every day you get 20 inches of snow in Minnesota, so we're trying to soak it up," said Alex Johnson, who was snowboarding and sledding with his kids at Farquar Park.
Kevin Johnson used his snowblower on his driveway while his children played with their dog in the yard. He says he and his neighbors shoveled out someone on their street who was snowed in.
"That's like the best part of it, just everyone comes out and helps each other," Johnson said.
Saam says snow removal will now be the focus in the city, because large snowbanks make both parking and visibility difficult for drivers.
A quirk of the storm that some people noticed is that Apple Valley got 20 inches, but MSP Airport, which is about 15 minutes away, got 13 inches.
"The only thing that could potentially drive something like that is bands of heavy snow that just happen to clip parts of the metro area and not others," said Mike Augustyniak, WCCO's Director of Meteorology.
Apple Valley workers will be in at 3 a.m. again Friday to re-plow neighborhood streets that they haven't gotten to since early in Thursday's snowfall.