MADISON, Wis., Feb. 20 (UPI) -- A major winter storm hit Minnesota Sunday, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and creating miserable driving conditions.
The Star Tribune in Minneapolis said 13 inches of snow had fallen in Bloomington by 6 p.m. and several more inches were expected overnight. Winds were gusting to 40 mph.
"We're still going to have some pretty poor driving conditions" Monday, Minnesota Department of Transportation spokesman Kent Barnard told the newspaper.
By Sunday morning, Delta Air Lines had already canceled 700 flights out of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, the Star Tribune reported. While the morning commute was expected to be thinned out by the Presidents' Day holiday, Barnard said roads were still likely to be snowy and slippery.
St. Paul declared a snow emergency Sunday and Minneapolis was expected to follow Monday.
The threat of bad weather didn't stop protesters in Madison, Wis., who pledged to continue their fight as a mixture of freezing rain and wet snow hit the city Sunday morning.
The Weather Service called for "significant" ice accumulations in south-central and southeast Wisconsin, including the Madison area, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Saturday night, union leaders had vowed to keep their vigil at the state Capitol against Gov. Scott Walker's move to revoke state workers' collective bargaining rights.
"Absolutely we're planning to be out there," said Bob Allen, spokesman for AFSCME Wisconsin.
But a rally planned for noon Sunday was to be moved indoors, teachers union President Mary Bell said.
Warmer air to the south was producing freezing rain and sleet in Nebraska, Iowa and southern Wisconsin.
