A storm that began Sunday evening produced more than 8 inches of snow in the Grand Forks region, prompting travel advisories, closure of a few public entities and serving as a prelude to dangerously frigid temperatures that are on the way.

The storm began late Sunday afternoon and picked up in the evening. By Monday morning, heavy snowfall continued, at times reducing visibility in Grand Forks to a few city blocks. In the country, it was worse: Interstate 29 and Highway 2 both were closed in the region before sunrise, although Highway 2 reopened for travel by 8 a.m., as well as I-29 from Grand Forks to the Canada border. According to a release from the Highway Patrol, the closures were due to zero visibility and snow-covered roadways.

I-29 was fully open, from border to border, by late Monday afternoon.

As of mid-afternoon Monday, 8.2 inches of snow had fallen on Grand Forks, according to National Weather Service meteorologist/technician Bill Barrett. Fargo had gotten about 8.6 inches and Lisbon had about 11 inches. The highest total in the region came at Staples, Minnesota, which had about 13.5 inches of snowfall by Monday afternoon, Barrett said.

Winds began picking up as Monday progressed, and a 40 mph gust was measured in Grand Forks around 1 p.m. It was windy elsewhere, too, with Devils Lake seeing a gust of 38 mph early Monday afternoon.

In Grand Forks, the storm came at the start of one of the year’s biggest garbage pickup weeks – those days after Christmas. However, it appears crews were able to keep to their schedule Monday, according to City Administrator Todd Feland.

“We know there are peak garbage times, and one of them is right after Christmas, when people have full cans and need to get it out. We should be able to accomplish that. We got through all of the residential routes, or we will by early this afternoon,” Feland said late Monday morning. “The only ones we didn’t get to are some apartments, but since those are generally front-load containers, we can make up the lost time (on Tuesday).”

The weather prompted the city to close its landfill at 1 p.m. Monday. The city also sent home nonessential personnel.

In East Grand Forks, the city announced that all refuse and recycling pickup will be delayed by one day this week. The city of East Grand Forks declared a snow emergency Sunday evening, meaning people cannot park on city streets without risk of a parking ticket. The emergency will be lifted once all streets have been cleared to their full width.

In Grand Forks, plows were out early Monday morning and expected to work throughout the day. The city does not declare snow emergencies per se, but instead asks that residents keep their vehicles off streets to let the plows do their work.

Feland expected much of the city’s residential streets to be plowed by Monday afternoon. And with winds and possibly more snow on the way, his expectation is that crews will begin anew Monday night and Tuesday morning.

“I think we’ll have a lot of the major operations done by early (Monday) afternoon,” he said. “And we’re awaiting the challenges that will start (later Monday).”

There are two crews working city streets in Grand Forks – one that started at 3 a.m. and another that clocked in at 7:30 a.m.

WDAY reported early Monday that the storm had brought approximately 6.5 inches of snow to Greater Grand Forks, although it snowed – at times heavily – for at least an hour or two after it made that announcement. Throughout the community, residents and businesses were shoveling out as the sun rose, even as snow continued to fall.

"The snowfall is not done in Fargo or Grand Forks just yet, and the wind is still to come," WDAY meteorologist Lydia Blume said during an early Monday morning broadcast.

The National Weather Service declared a blizzard warning for counties west and south of Grand Forks, including Traill, Steele, Griggs and Nelson counties in North Dakota and Norman County in Minnesota. Greater Grand Forks avoided an official blizzard declaration, but for most of the day, the city remained in a winter storm warning.

Late in the afternoon, the blizzard warnings that were declared for North Dakota and Minnesota counties were lifted. In Grand Forks, the storm warning was lifted, too, and the sun broke through the clouds by mid-afternoon.

"Those winds throughout the area are still a little gusty but they will be improving as we get into this evening and overnight," WDAY meteorologist Robert Poynter said during the station's 4 p.m. broadcast Monday. "Conditions are greatly improving since this morning."

Barrett, at the National Weather Service, said that on Tuesday, another 1 to 4 inches of snow could fall, depending on the location. Low temperatures will be around minus-10, according to the NWS. Wind chills will dip to as low as minus-21.

For the rest of the week, according to the NWS, high temperatures likely will stay below zero, including minus-8 on Wednesday, minus-7 on Thursday and minus-10 on Friday and Saturday.

A power outage in Larimore on Monday affected two dozen Xcel Energy customers.

Following are weather-related announcements submitted to the Herald Monday: