Cold, ice, wind lead to accidents

The wet snowstorm that fell on the region two weeks ago - causing many headaches with power outages - was followed by subzero temperatures and howling winds just before Christmas, making for slick roads. There were a handful of crashes around the region leading into the holiday weekend. Because of the conditions, most drivers were going slowly enough to avoid any serious injuries.

Expected power outages caused by blizzard-strength winds did not materialize as winds kicked up on Dec. 22 and into Sunday. There were only a few spotty and short-lived outages reported.

One vehicle crash on Friday involved a pickup driver who lost control on a patch of ice going northbound on Interstate 35 in Thomson Township, landing sideways in the median, said a Minnesota State Patrol report. Driver Wendi Guyer, 55, of Moose Lake, was uninjured in the accident as was her 26-year-old passenger. Another passenger, Wendell Rich, 79, from Florida, had minor injuries and was treated at a hospital in Duluth. Esko fire and Carlton ambulance crews were on the scene.

There was a spin-out and crash between two southbound vehicles on I-35 at Midway Road on Dec. 21, the State Patrol reported. Cody Mercier of Cloquet, 28, was uninjured when a sliding Buick LeSabre struck his pickup just after 7 p.m. The driver of the Buick was taken to a hospital in Duluth for minor injuries. There was another rollover into an I-35 ditch in Twin Lakes Township the morning before, Dec. 20. That 23-year-old SUV driver was treated for minor injuries at Community Memorial Hospital in Duluth.

While I-35 was in mostly in good driving condition by Christmas Day with spots of black ice, county and state roads throughout the region remained ice-coated. Conditions were expected to improve as a rise in daily temperature began on Tuesday, with high 30s predicted for later in the week.