Aberdeen hit with record amount of snow

Osvaldo Galo was an odd sight on Main Street at 1 p.m. Sunday. The 31-year-old Aberdonian, dressed in boots, jeans, down jacket and a hooded sweatshirt, was one of the few, if not only, people walking down the street.

 He was on his way to pick up his wife from where she works on the north side of Aberdeen. While Galo had two cars at his disposal, both were stuck in the snow.

 "I don't want (my wife) to walk home alone in this weather," he said. And so he trudged north on South Main Street in the middle of the road.

Record broken

 The National Weather Service in Aberdeen reported 12.8 inches of snow at 9 p.m. As of this morning, Aberdeen received 13.2 inches of snow since Saturday night. The amount shattered a 65-year-old record for the most amount of snow on Feb. 10. The previous record was 3.4 inches of snow in 1948.

 The blizzard warning for Aberdeen is expected to end at 6 a.m. today along with snowfall, said Ken Gillespie, a meteorologist with the weather service. For areas east of Aberdeen, the warning is expected to end around noon.

 Temperatures are expected to climb to 21 today before dropping off to a low of around 3 tonight.

 There is a slight chance of snow from Wednesday night into Thursday afternoon, said Gillespie.

 Because of the storm, many businesses and municipal operations were at a standstill today. The city of Aberdeen canceled garbage pick up today because of the snow. Brown County closed all non-essential offices.

 The two departures and two arrivals since Saturday evening were canceled at the Aberdeen Regional Airport, said Mike Wilson, city transportation director. The cancellations were related to 50 canceled flights at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, he said. At press time, Wilson said Sunday night's arrival flight would depend on how backed up airport traffic is at the Minneapolis airport.

 "The runways here should be in good enough shape where the plane could get in," he said, adding that crews have been working since 9 p.m. Saturday to clear the runways.

Prepared

 The Brown County Sheriff's Office had a plan ready for officers that could not get to work because of the snow.

 Deputy Sheriff Wes Graff was snowed into his home and had to have another deputy pick him up in one of the office's sport utility vehicles. Though the deputy has a patrol car that he drives to and from home, Graff said the car isn't likely to make it through snowdrifts.

 "If there are more than a couple of deputies working, we'll double up in a vehicle," he said. "We're always able to respond to the calls, it's just making sure we have an SUV available to get through the road conditions."

 Aberdeen Fire and Rescue has several vehicles equipped for dealing with blizzard conditions, said Battalion Chief Randy Meister. The list includes a four-wheel drive ambulance, an ambulance with chains already attached, a winter rescue snowmobile capable of carrying up to four people and a county plow that could take the crew out into the rural areas. He also added each ambulance and fire truck has a set of chains ready to be put on if need be.

  "We're prepared," he said.

'It ain't pretty'

 Wes Williams, emergency manager for Day County, had his hands full helping people in vehicles that were stuck in ditches Sunday.

 Williams estimated there were at least a dozen calls for people stuck in vehicles.