MSP Airport, MnDOT prep for 1-2 punch of spring break and snowstorms
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Department of Transportation is watching the forecast closely as they prepare for the impending snow, as is the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Thursday and Friday are expected to be some of the busiest days for spring break travel.
The airport has its staff monitoring the weather in addition to help from the National Weather Service, but they say they're always ready.
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And that's a good thing because nearly 48,000 passengers are expected to pass through TSA at MSP on Thursday and Friday.
MSP urges passengers to plan ahead
The impending winter weather comes just as thousands of people are heading out on spring break trips. Thursday and Friday are expected to be some of the busiest days at MSP airport with 48,000 passengers expected on each day.
The Kramers from Rogers, Minnesota, headed to Las Vegas on Thursday. They were starting their spring break a little early, ahead of the storm.
"It's going to hit us as soon as we leave," David Kramer said.
Airline travelers have few rights when it comes to weather-related cancelations. Thrifty Traveler Executive Editor Kyle Potter said passengers should still be proactive.
"Travel insurance is essential in these kinds of situations, especially at this time of year when disruptions from weather are most likely," Potter said.
He suggests anyone traveling this weekend keep an eye out for weather waivers, which may be issued by airlines and allow people to change their flights.
"Once you see it, move quickly. Because I guarantee you hundreds if not thousands of other travelers are doing the same thing and changing their flights just as soon as they can," he said.
It was smooth sailing at MSP Airport on Thursday morning for a group of high school seniors heading to London.
"Our school, basically everyone is leaving tomorrow and I know Thursday is kind of a business travel day, so I was expecting a little more today but pretty happy there's like no one," Alden Dyer said.
Officials say airport travel this month is up 10% compared to this time last year and during peak periods. Numbers are expected to reach levels MSP hasn't seen since 2019.
"We think the hours of 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. are really busy in both terminals and then 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. is another area of time when we'll see some peak activity," MSP Airport Spokesperson Jeff Lea said.
Lea said the airport is closely monitoring the forecast. They also have additional crews on standby.
"We want people to get off to a great start so plan accordingly get here on time," he said.
Parking fills up fast at MSP International. You can reserve a parking spot online ahead of your trip, but it must be booked at least 12 hours before arrival.
The airport has two cellphone waiting lots, now with additional spaces.
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Anyone picking up someone from the airport is encouraged to wait there to avoid the congestion.
"The passengers that are planning to head out in the next few days should plan accordingly, make sure that they get to the airport on time," said MSP spokesperson Jeff Lea. "However, they may be coming by vehicle or by rideshare or by Metro Transit light rail or bus, make sure you get here on time to get through the various processes, check-in, the security checkpoint, and give yourself enough time to get to the gate."
MSP officials say this busy stretch of travel is expected to peak on April 4 with 449 departures on that day alone.
At the start of last year, the airport averaged 358 flights a day.
WEATHER RESOURCES: More weather coverage | Animated radars
MnDOT's battle plan
As far as the roads, MnDOT says the 200 plows in the metro and 800 statewide are ready. Officials say the good thing about spring snowstorms is the temperatures.
"They don't traditionally stick around long either," said MnDOT's Anne Meyer. "We really do have some temperatures working in our favor where we should see some melting happening right away. But again, remembering that that might again have colder temps at night, so just being more winter aware."
This one-two punch of a snowstorm seems to have the potential for rain, snow and mix. Depending on what happens as we get closer to when the snow arrives, MnDOT crews pre-treat the roads, paying extra attention to the bridges, overpasses and ramps that tend to get slick first.
"Every element of a snowstorm will impact what we do. Timing, temperature and type of snow. And we're gonna see a variety of things happening here the next few days across the state, and we're going to be ready for each of those layers," Meyer said. "And that's why we have systems that we do so that we can really best approach each route that's out there, depending on what they're seeing. So if they're seeing rain before snow, if a particular area is seeing more snow than others, you know, we can really make those adjustments."
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