By Tim Engstrom and Hannah Dillon

Snowy road conditions caused crashes and spun out vehicles all morning Wednesday.

At least eight crashes and spun out vehicles happened in the Albert Lea area between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Around 12:06 p.m. a vehicle spun out two miles west of Albert Lea on westbound Interstate 90 between Minnesota Highway 13 and Alden. On northbound Interstate 35 around 12:10 p.m. a vehicle crashed between Freeborn County Road 13 and U.S. Highway 65 and around 12:15 p.m. a vehicle crashed between U.S. 65 and East Main Street.

On northbound I-35, two miles south of Albert Lea a vehicle spun out between exits 2 and 5 around 12:55 p.m. and three miles south of Albert Lea a vehicle spun out in the same spot.

Six miles west of Alden, a vehicle spun out on eastbound I-90 around 12:17 p.m.

Around 9:50 a.m., at least three incidents occurred near Albert Lea. On southbound I-35 between U.S. 65 and Freeborn County Road 13 there was an undefined “accident,” and between East Main and U.S. 65 a vehicle spun out. On westbound I-90 between Hayward and the I-35 cloverleaf, there was a crash. By 11:15 a.m., these had been cleared up.

As of 12:21 p.m., no injuries had been reported from these crashes on the Minnesota State Patrol website.

Southbound I-35 was closed four miles north of Faribault as a result of an injury crash, but reopened as of 10:50 a.m. Many other accidents occurred on the stretch of I-35 between Owatonna and Faribault all morning and into the afternoon.

A jackknifed semi crashed on southbound I-35 just south of Owatonna near the U.S. Highway 14 interchange. By 10:40 a.m., this crash had been taken care of. Around 11:12 a.m., a vehicle spun out on eastbound I-90 between Owatonna and Stewartville. By 12:40 p.m., this crash had been cleared up.

There was a second jackknifed semi on northbound I-35 south of Faribault. This accident happened around 9:25 a.m. By 1 p.m., that accident had been cleared.

As of 12:30 p.m., roads in and around Albert Lea were partially covered with snow, MN511 reports.

I-35 was partially covered with snow up to Ellendale, when it switched to completely covered with snow. These conditions continued until Elko New Market, when it went back to partially covered until Pine City, when it switched over to normal road conditions.

Roads around Austin, Dodge Center and Kasson were completely covered with snow all the way to the Iowa border.

Eastbound I-90 road conditions shifted from partially covered with snow in Albert Lea to completely covered with snow in Austin, then back to partially covered from Dexter to Rochester.

Past Rochester to the Wisconsin border, road conditions were normal, but roads north of I-90 in and around Rochester were completely covered with snow. Westbound I-90 road conditions were partially covered with snow to Alden and completely covered with snow to the South Dakota border.

A winter weather advisory was in effect for much of Minnesota including Freeborn, Mower and Faribault counties. A winter storm warning was in effect for Waseca, Steele, Le Sueur, Nicollet and Blue Earth counties. Owatonna and Faribault are in Steele and Rice counties.

As of 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in Albert Lea, it was snowing. Mankato and Wells reported receiving at least 4 1/2 inches of the white stuff.