Multiple crashes on snowy I-35 East causing long delays in Washington County.

After a warm-up from our bone-chilling temperatures came measurable snow, which caused significant delays during the Thursday morning commute.

Multiple crashes have backed up traffic on Interstate 35E southbound near Highway 8 in Forest Lake. The right lane of the interstate was blocked as crews responded to the scene, and many vehicles were seen off the road. At this point it's unclear if there are any injuries.

On the other side of the North Metro, a driver was pulled from a burning vehicle on Highway 169 at Interstate 694 in Maple Grove early Thursday morning. The Minnesota State Patrol says the victim was transported to North Memorial Medical Center with serious but non-life threatening injuries. The incident happened at 5:20 a.m. and blocked two lanes of the southbound highway.

A winter storm warning has been issued by the National Weather Service for the metro, parts of central Minnesota and western Wisconsin from 5 a.m. until 3 p.m. Thursday.

Timing could not have been worse; the snow started at about 4 a.m. and quickly became heavy. One to three inches of snow dumped on the morning drive, and then another 2-3 inches came later, according to a TV meteorologist. Minneapolis and St. Paul have both declared snow emergencies.

We'll see clearing skies this afternoon with falling temperatures. We started out at 28 degrees just after midnight, and by 5 p.m. temperatures will tumble to about 10 degrees, Ken said.

Looking ahead to the weekend, we should see temperatures in the mid- to upper-teens, with a few flurries possible on Saturday, which will be the "Bright Spot" in the forecast.

"There aren't any huge snowstorms on the horizon just yet, but there are signs of a pretty major shift in the jet stream late next week or into the following weekend," KSTP Meteorologist Dave Dahl said. "This could be the first indications of a slightly more significant snowfall headed this way."