Blizzard blast in Edgerton, Hendricks, Minnesota

Note: This story has been updated with information from Wednesday afternoon.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Gale Achterhoff only needed to look out her window Wednesday in Edgerton, Minnesota, to know it was bad outside.

“It’s not very nice,” Achterhoff said of the blizzard that covered most of southwestern Minnesota. “We can’t see very far, it’s blowing a lot.”

Early Wednesday afternoon she estimated she could see about a block down the street.

Achterhoff and her husband Jim live in a building where they can also see some of the countryside.

“There’s a road about a mile east of us where we normally see a lot of trucks. I haven’t seen that all day,” she said at about 1:30 p.m.

The wind was blowing vertically at around 10 a.m.

“The wind is actually vertical…,” city employee Mary Kreun said as she looked outside the window.

“If we see this in town…,” Kreun said of a blizzard that was storming through southwestern Minnesota, “as soon as you get out to the county line, it’s even worse.”

Chester “Skip” Hunter has been tracking the weather during his 15 years in Edgerton and the 30 prior in Doon, Iowa.

“I’ve seen a lot of winters,” Hunter said. The past few winters haven’t been as intense as this one, he said.

He keeps a daily record and so far, “we are well above what we’ve averaged,” Hunter said of this winter.

With this blizzard, “I figure we had about seven inches starting yesterday up until this morning,” Hunter said.

KELOLAND meteorologists reported early this morning that Edgerton got seven inches, Hardwick had 7.1, Ivanhoe had 5. To the south, Hills had 5.1 inches and more to the west Slayton received 7.1 inches.

Skip Hunter’s backyard in Edgerton, Minnesota. Photo courtesy of Skip Hunter.

Areas of southwestern Minnesota may feel the most brunt from the storm. Forecasted snowfall could reach a foot or more, even 18 inches, according to KELOLAND meteorologists.

City crews clean up snow in Edgerton, Minnesota, on Feb. 22. Photo courtesy of Skip Hunter.

Edgerton is in Pipestone County, south of Pipestone near U.S. Highway 75. The area could get as much as 14 to 18 inches or more of snow in this blizzard.

“There’s lots of wind. Even in town there are lots of (snow) drifts,” Hunter said.

It was windy about 57 miles to the north on Wednesday.

At around 2:45 p.m. Sandy Rynes of Larson’s Food Center in Hendricks said there was “lots and lots of snow” in the town near the border with South Dakota.

The forecast said the city should receive at least several inches with more on the way tonight.

The grocery store would stay open “for as long as we can,” Rynes said. Customers who have stopped in have been very appreciative, she said.

Early on Wednesday, another business was uncertain of possible closure for the day.

Kris Engesmoe of Vollan Oil Company in Hendricks said at about 10 a.m. that he wasn’t sure how long the gas station would stay open.

Still, “It’s actually been busy,” Engesmoe said. Customers were filling up their snow plow trucks and snow blowers, he said.