Multiple jacknifes. As the squall weakened at Wright Road exit. Image: Minnesota State Patrol
Snow squall
A snow squall is an intense short-lived burst of heavy snowfall that leads to a quick reduction in visibilities, often with gusty winds. Sudden whiteouts occur.
Quickly gone
The Monticello squall was a long, narrow short-lived band that swept through central Minnesota. The storm exited the state by late afternoon, leaving skies blue and bright.
Mom, 10-year-old daughter see flames, flee
MONTICELLO, Minn. – Twenty-nine vehicles, half of them trucks with semi-trailers, collided in a snow squall. Several vehicles caught fire. Interstate 94 was blocked four hours westbound and 9-1/2 hours eastbound. In an interview on television station WCCO, Brittany Kolles described her experience. “I saw a semi on my left start to fish tail,” Kolles said. “It hit another semi, both of them jackknifed.” Kolles and her 10-year-old daughter climbed into the back of their vehicle. She was holding her daughter as they watched more collisions occur. Then: “My daughter said, ‘Mommy, that truck is on fire,’ and I looked, and the semi, the flames were within, you know, 10 feet of my back window, and so we ran,” Kolles said. crash on the interstate in front of them. Kolles said her car was hit at least five times as the pile grew. In all, nine people were taken to the Monticello hospital, all with non-life threatening injuries. The crashes occurred west of Monticello near Wright County Road 18 around 9:15 a.m.