Over the course of the three-day snow emergency in Minneapolis, the city ticketed 3,944 cars and towed 507.

St. Paul declared back-to-back snow emergencies, and through Friday's day plow, ticketed 2,880 cars and towed 754.

Through the second day of the snow emergency in Minneapolis, the city says over 2,000 cars have been ticketed.

In all, 2,112 cars were ticketed through Thursday and 329 were towed. 

The latest storm made it into the record books as one of the top 25 single-storm snowfalls in the city since the 1870s.

It dropped an entire month's worth of snow and pushed this winter into the top 20 snowiest in history. If we get 7.7 inches of snow before spring, this season will end up as one of the top 10 snowiest winters.

To date, we have received 70.7 inches of snow, which is almost 3 feet more than average.

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.

The work of cleaning up after the storm may be just beginning plowing the streets clearing walkways to homes. But that didn't stop people we found in St Paul from taking advantage of the fun side of a snowstorm 

Thursday afternoon, we found kids having a blast sledding down steep hills -- the snow perfect condition for that. And dogs we met at the High Bridge Dog Park also seemed to love it. Four-legged friends ran wild through the snow, and we found most of their owners were making the most of it

"We just love it here. There's usually people here no matter what the weather is. I know roads around here get plowed compared to some of the other areas, so I was like I should be able to make it," said Roseville resident Emma Klaustermeier.

You know who wasn't having as much fun? Car owners who had to dig their cars out of massive drifts. But the buddy system seemed to work best -- because not everyone could stay home.

"I had to go into work today. That was tough this morning. Roads were crazy, whiteout conditions, so that wasn't fun," said Minneapolis resident Theresa Jancik. "Now I have a lot of shoveling to do to make sure I can get to work tomorrow."

Jancik says the sideroads are a little tougher to navigate, but hopefully they'll improve in the next few days.

As if nine months of pregnancy wasn't stressful enough.

"For me, I said what better thing to do in a storm than have a baby," Micah Trautman, a new mom to baby boy Hudson, told WCCO. "And I was born during one of Minnesota's biggest heat waves in history, so it's fun to have that opposite event."

Micah and her husband, Adam, arrived at Owatonna Hospital on Tuesday night for a pre-scheduled induction, and the short drive from their house was not an easy one. 

"I remember the first stop sign right outside our house, I skidded through it," Adam Trautman recalled. "Pretty slippery right off the bat."

They arrived safely, however, and a fully staffed hospital was waiting for them.

"I was thinking who's going to be on staff and who's going to be there to support us because we're first-time parents," Adam added. "Everyone here was amazing."

Indeed, hospital administrators told WCCO that storm preparations started well before the winter storm and included a review of hospital operations from across Minnesota and even nationwide.

"We learned an awful lot from hospitals in hurricanes and tornadoes and how do hospitals last without power for seven to 10 days," said Helen Strike, Allina Health's co-lead for storm planning. "It's OK maybe for one shift to try and handle things internally, but when it's two to three shifts in a row that means we have to have forward planning."

Beyond staffing, planning included securing plenty of medical supplies and even linens.

"If we've got staff staying in the hospital that don't normally stay there, we need linen for them to sleep on and towels to shower," Strike added, while also emphasizing the role of maintenance, facilities and housekeeping in supporting hospital operations. "Nutrition staff is probably the highest commodity because they're going to be feeding a lot more people 24 hours a day than they would have on a normal basis with extra staff staying in the hospital."

For the Trautmans, Micah and Adam's decision to bring one week's worth of snacks has kept them well-fed, but Hudson's arrival has them overflowing with joy.

"Overwhelmed with love and joy. It all came together in the exact right way."

Despite all of the snow that's come through here though, people took the time Thursday to look on the bright side. For some, the piles of snow meant a hard day's work.

"It's unbelievable. It's quite a load here. My snowblower's not keeping up very well, but what do you do," said Nathan Chiller.

The answer for some? Have some fun.

From Afton Alps, to a hill next to Hastings Middle School.

"We're called 'MinneSNOWDA' for a reason, right? Gotta love the snow. Gotta love the blizzard. Come out here and do what we do," said Minneapolis resident Ve Le.

"We came out to go sledding because we were bored in the house and it took my dad so long cause he was plowing," said Hastings resident Anton Brown.

Nancy Morreale found something else in the storm.

"The stillness, the beauty. It's very, very soothing. I'm sorry for the people who have to drive in it, who have to shovel it. But for myself, I'm truly having a blessing," Morreale said.

Morreale is a south Minneapolis native who now lives in Florida. She came back last week to be with friends as she marked the first anniversary of her husband's death.

"I just kept saying, 'I want to see snow. I want to make a snow angel.' And of course a few weeks ago, it looked like it was going to melt," she said. "I got my wish."

A gift from above she says brought joy on a sad day.

"To grab these moments, I wish everybody could grab a moment like this," Morreale said.

The plows have done a good job of clearing the highways and interstates. But at times, the storm made for some dangerous driving.

 Derek James shows some of those crashes that were caught on camera.

On the first night of St. Paul's snow emergency, the city's mayor said over 900 miles of lanes were cleared.

During the same time, 936 vehicles were tagged and 243 were towed, Mayor Melvin Carter said. However, there were 752 cars that utilized the free city ramps.

In Minneapolis, 721 tickets were issued, and 194 cars were towed.

Even with the delays, cancellations and inconveniences, we hope you got a chance to step back and look around. There is a lot of beauty to soak up in the landscape.

It's not often in Minnesota the weather stops us in our tracks. But when it does, it's breathtaking – beauty and snow abound.

Sandy Quasbort of Blaine says when she looks around at the mounds of snow she sees "beauty."

"Winter is gorgeous," Sandy said.

If you're thinking Sandy seems nice, you're right. She and her husband spent Thursday morning clearing their neighbors' drive.  

"We volunteer to do it for them because we're just right across the street and it's just easy to do," she said. "There is work to it, but you know, it gets you outside, I think it keeps you healthier."

The snow certainly brings out the beauty of the Minnesota landscape, but also the beauty of humanity. Cindy Bratsch says her neighbors help one another. WCCO watched as her longtime neighbor Jim Kulaga put his snow blower to work.

"He's the best," Cindy said.

Sometimes the worst of weather conditions brings out the best in the human condition.

"It's awesome, we all work together," Cindy said.

The Minnesota State Patrol says there were 87 crashes between 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. on state roads. Seven of those resulted in injuries. There were also 102 vehicle spinouts and two jackknifed semi.

If you live in the south metro, you got the worst of the storm -- totals were close to more than a foot and a half in Farmington, Apple Valley and Lakeville.

Over the quiet machines sing and work in harmony -- a sweet symphony for Chris Donahue.

"It's white gold. The joke is always, 'Plow that snow, make that dough.' We're making money and we're having fun doing it," Donahue said.

While most people stayed home, Mark Maier and Bill Larson aren't most people.

[Click here to read the full story.]

The storm left some of us grumpy: Complaining about being cooped up with the kids, attempts at e-learning and for some, still having to get to work.

But those in charge of keeping us safe say Minnesotans deserve an "A" for listening and staying home.

During Monday morning's dusting of snow, the State Patrol said there were 158 crashes across the state with 28 injures. But as of midday on the third day of this snowstorm, there were 384 crashes statewide, and 33 of those involved injuries.

"The numbers for crashes has been a lot less than I anticipated, which is a great thing," said Lt. Gordon Shank with the Minnesota State Patrol. 

The Minnesota Department of Transportation agrees. 

"A lot less traffic, less traffic means less spin-outs, less crashes, a lot fewer plows being hit by vehicles. All of those things slow down our operation," said Anne Meyer. 

Looking back, St. Paul residents might remember the snowstorm on Jan. 22, 2018, when St. Paul schools did not close and buses got stuck in the storm. Roughly 300 kids were stranded at school and some didn't get home until midnight. This time, St. Paul schools closed, along with nearly all others. 

The district said in a statement that families and staff expressed their appreciation for the early decision with plenty of time to make plans.

St. Paul announced Thursday afternoon that residents can park their vehicles in multiple city recreation center lots for free.

Vehicles are permitted to park in the following lots until 5 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26:

• Arlington Arkwright Park - 400 Arlington Avenue East
• Arlington Hills Community Center - 1200 Payne Avenue
• Battle Creek Recreation Center - 75 Winthrop Street South
• Duluth and Case Recreation Center - 1020 Duluth Street
• Edgcumbe Recreation Center - 320 Griggs Street South
• Frogtown Community Center - 230 Como Avenue
• Hazel Park Recreation Center - 945 Hazel Street North
• Highland Park Community Center - 1978 Ford Parkway
• Jimmy Lee/Oxford Community Center - 270 Lexington Parkway North
• Martin Luther King Recreation Center - 271 North Mackubin Street
• North Dale Recreation Center - 1414 Saint Albans Street North
• Rice and Arlington / Municipal Athletics - 1500 Rice Street
• West Minnehaha Recreation Center - 685 West Minnehaha Avenue

Additionally, eight city-owned ramps are available for parking through noon on Saturday, Feb. 25.

After several more inches fell last night, this has become grand central station for snow removers. When we began going live at 7:00 this morning, there weren't nearly this many piles- but they just keep coming and coming. And even with snow no longer falling, the wind is keeping contractors busy.

"We're just doing everything we can to get caught up and get our customers freed up and out of their houses," said Doug Best.

Best is the owner of Best Contractors in Hector. With skid loaders and snowblowers, he and his crew made the trek to Hutchinson to clear driveways for 77 homeowners in this association.

"It's been busy and it's good for the snow removal business. But at the same time, spring is coming and we get to mow lawns with all this moisture," said Best.  

[Click here to read the full story.]

The National Weather Service has updated its snow totals from this week's storm system, and it's official -- this winter is now among the 20 snowiest on record.

The storm left 13.1 inches of snow at MSP Airport, which is good enough to push this season to 17th place overall.

That being said, the storm fell short of being one of the 20 snowiest individual storms on record. Click here to see that list.

At noon Thursday, the Minnesota Department of Transportation lifted no travel advisories on all state highways in southcentral Minnesota, including those in Brown, Cottonwood, Jackson, Martin and Watonwan counties.

Interstate 90 and most state highways in Noble and Rock counties are scheduled to reopen at 12:30 p.m.

Blowing snow and drifting snow are still issues in these areas. MnDOT advises motorists to reduce their speed and drive according to conditions.

Highway 59 and Highway 60 south of Worthingotn are expected to reopen by 2 p.m.

It was a rare moment at MSP Airport on Wednesday to see the terminal nearly empty most of the afternoon and evening, after more than 500 flights were cancelled during the day.

A spokesperson for MSP Airport says the cancellations were due to snow and strong winds. They were only operating with one runway at a time to allow crews to plow the fresh snow off the runways.

This left a lot of Minnesotans disappointed and stressed.

"This is almost becoming a trip of mission impossible," said Mary Lou, of Anoka County. She along with her husband, and another couple are trying to get to Miami, but keep running into cancellation after cancellation.

"We've changed our flights 3 times now, and now this is going to be the fourth," said Tim Kneefe, who is part of this Miami travel group.

To check live flight status updates, click here.

[Read the full story here.]

"We'll still see snow today but the worst of this storm is now over," the Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management team reported at about 8:20 a.m. "We've talked with emergency managers across the state. While they were busy in their own communities, there were no requests for state assistance."

All morning, WCCO's Pauleen Le captured some stressful moments for Twin Cities motorists, including this hair-raising moment:

It seems people clearly took the advice to stay off the roads overnight. The Minnesota State Patrol is reporting relatively few overnight crashes:

The WCCO NEXT Weather team is telling Minnesotans to hunker down at home, and the Minnesota DNR eagle appears to be saying, "Yeah, I'm right on top of that, Rose!"

Metro Transit is reporting that there are a number of trips that have been canceled Thursday morning as the last wave of snow moves through.

"While road conditions worsen, some trips are being canceled as operators face challenges getting to work on time," the agency reported.

Another morning of cancellations at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, as more than 230 flights were already shown as canceled as early as 5:30 a.m.

An additional four flights were reported to be delayed.

Click here to see the latest cancellations.

No matter the forecast, Minnesotans will embrace their favorite winter pastime.

They dropped the puck on the semi-finals for the girls state hockey tournament Wednesday in St. Paul.

The fans are not in attendance, but the teams are – and that will have to suffice until at least Friday.

Orono beat Luverne Wednesday 6-0, while Proctor-Hermantown beat Mankato East 4-3. The two winners will face off Thursday.

On Wednesday, 546 flights were cancelled at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Marielle Mohs visited the airport Wednesday night, which felt like a ghost town.