1 dead, more than 20 injured in snowy conditions on Friday
The heavy snowfall that Minnesota saw on Friday took a toll on the state's roads, with hundreds of crashes and one fatality reported.
The State Patrol announced the tally of road incidents Saturday morning, reporting 286 crashes, 266 vehicles off the road, 21 jackknifed semi trucks and 21 injuries around the state:
The sole fatality occurred shortly before midnight in Maplewood, where a 1999 Toyota Corolla "jumped the curb" while traveling north on Highway 61, entering the southbound lane and striking a Ford F-150 head on, according to a State Patrol incident report.
The collision killed a passenger in the Toyota, identified as a 52-year-old man from Fresno, California, who was not wearing his seatbelt. The vehicle's two other occupants were hurt as well, but their injuries were described as non-life threatening.
The incident report indicates that all three had been drinking, but no further details have been made available.
Meanwhile, the driver of the F-150, a 22-year-old Minneapolis man, was not injured.
Southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities experienced the region's biggest snowstorm of the season by far on Friday, with the biggest snow totals found in East St. Paul — which got 21 inches.
The snowstorm caused significant travel problems not only on the roads, but also at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where dozens of flights both inbound and outbound were canceled or rerouted.