A blizzard named Xerxes

A blizzard named Xerxes hit the Twin Cities last week, and it was a doozy. Forecasters said with arctic air coming in from the northwest and precip coming in from the southwest, we had a 100% chance of getting blasted. And we did.

The snow started falling at right at noon. By the time I left for work, 20 minutes later, this is what it looked like. This was the scariest condition I've ever driven in. You literally couldn't see 30 feet ahead of you. I couldn't tell if I was in both lanes or on the shoulder. I inched along going 30-40 mph until I found other cars, then I could follow the trail. It took me nearly 2 hours to get in.



By the time I got off work, the snow had stopped but the wind was still blowing. Weather forecasters gave out warnings for "blowing snow."

Of course, I knew the weather was perfect for a live shot, and that's what I did. I called it a smo-storm in the outro.

And, an FYI.... there isn't a group that names snow events like hurricanes. Instead, different cities and different organizations do different things. The Minnesota Department of Transportation names particular snow events in alphabetical order after city streets. Because this was such a big snow event, the name Xerxes will now be retired and MNDOT is now out of Xs. There's another snowstorm expected this week, so March can live up to the hype as the snowiest month of the year.