NEW ULM – The mid-March blizzard that was forecast to hit this past weekend arrived on scheduled.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), between Saturday, March 14 and Sunday, March 15, New Ulm received between 8-12 inches of snow.

The exact measurements were difficult to measure due to blowing snow, but areas north and west of New Ulm received heavier snowfall in the Twin Cities Metro area and over 18 inches falling in Rochester.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDTO) closed multiple state highways and interstate 90 at 6 p.m. Sunday. State highways in Cottonwood, Watonwan, Martin and Faribault counties were closed. Highway 15 from Iowa to Highway 19 remained closed.

A no travel advisory was put in place for Sibley, Nicollet, Le Sueur, Waseca, Blue Earth and Brown County. Most of the road closures and travel advisories were lifted by Monday morning.

Brown County Sheriff Jason Seidl said most Brown County residents heed the blizzard and no travel warning. His deputies responded to only three stalled or abandoned vehicles during the blizzard.

“We’ve had storms in the past with a dozen stalled-out vehicles,” Seidl said. “This time the calls were relatively minor.”

New Ulm Public Works Superintendent Jeff Hoffmann said the weekend blizzard was easily the worst storm of the year so far.

“It was a little bit of a battle Sunday,” he said. “We had roads open by 1 p.m. Sunday, and then we had people cleaning out the drifting areas until about 9 p.m.”

Hoffmann said typically most extreme drifting occurs on Oakwood Avenue, North Highland and near Mernards.

City snowplows were back out clearing streets again at 4 a.m. Monday. Hoffmann said they cleared out where new snow blew in over the night and where cars has been parked the night before.

A downtown snow emergency remains in effect through Tuesday morning. The plows will clear the snow piles from downtown New Ulm starting at 1 a.m. Blowers will be brought in around 4 a.m. Hoffmann estimated the downtown should be clear by 11 a.m. Tuesday well before the start of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Though the blizzard has passed, NWS is predicting a high chance of more snowfall Tuesday afternoon with a possible accumulation of 1-2 inches.