MSP Airport closes runways for nearly 3 hours due to 'excessive snowfall'

The Minneapolis-St. Paul International (MSP) Airport closed its runways due to "excessive snowfall rates and low visibility," Tuesday afternoon.

The airport said intense bands of snow that dropped up to an inch an hour forced them to close the runways for around two hours. 

The weather resulted in the cancellation of at least 116 flights and 187 delays.

Jeff Lea with the Metropolitan Airports Commission estimated hundreds of travelers would be stuck overnight in Minneapolis due to the cancellations and delays.

Becky and Keith Anderson from Grand Rapids, Minnesota said their 10 a.m. flight to Cancun was eventually canceled, after they sat on the plane for several hours waiting for the snow to pass.

"Our flight just kept getting delayed and delayed until about 5 p.m. they canceled it on us. So, now we’re scrambling to try to get another flight out," said Becky Anderson.

Most of the Twin Cities metro saw between 5 and 7 inches of snow, with some spots hitting 8 inches or more.