Before the sun even approached the horizon Tuesday morning, dozens of vehicles were spinning off ramps and into each other across the metro.
Uriel Isidoro, 29, of South St. Paul, died sometime before 8 a.m. after rolling an SUV on the ramp from southbound Minnesota 280 to westbound Interstate 94, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.
Road conditions were classified as icy by the patrol, and chances are black ice was the culprit.
Ubiquitous with Minnesota winters, black ice is a thin layer of ice or frost formed when temperatures plummet, as described by State Patrol Lt. Eric Roeske.
Black ice is nearly invisible and especially prevalent on bridges and overpasses where cold air can seep in underneath the pavement. But if it gets cold enough, black ice can form anywhere.
Although the patrol can’t track specific accidents linked to black ice, Roeske said the patrol is responding to an increase in crashes, likely because of the phenomenon brought on by the recent spate of extreme low temperatures.
January 2014 in the Twin Cities has been 7 degrees colder than its traditional average, according to the Minnesota Climatology Office. Through Jan. 27, nine days have recorded an average temperature below zero, and 16 have had a low below zero.
That makes for a lot of frozen roadways. Statewide, the patrol responded to 350 crashes and 170 cases of vehicles spinning from the road Tuesday morning. Besides the fatal crash, 30 of the accidents involved injuries, the patrol said.
Nearly all crashes on slippery roads are because motorists are driving too fast for the conditions, Roeske said.
Dangerous wind chills in the 20- to 40-below-zero range likely will remain until late Wednesday morning.
Wednesday’s high temperature is expected to top 20 degrees before cooling once again. High temperatures aren’t likely to surpass the mid-teens for the rest of the week, the weather service said.
Joseph Lindberg can be reached at 651-228-5513. Follow him at twitter.com/JosephLindberg.