11/19/2011 Stearns County, MN First Winter Storm Of 2011 / 2012 season.

A winter storm hit the central Minnesota area of Stearns County with some areas receiving almost a foot of snow.

A narrow band of heavy snow hit the area this afternoon and caused hundreds of accidents.

The heavy snow and numerous accidents caused Interstate 94 west of Saint Cloud, MN to be closed for several hours this afternoon.

At one point the road conditions were so poor that in order to open up the interstate, a Minnesota State Trooper had to guide a Snow Plow through the traffic jam just to get to the major wreck the shut down the interstate.