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Weather impacted weekend travel

A Hollandale woman was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries after being involved in a single-car accident on Saturday.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol crash report, a 2006 Hyundai Sonata was traveling east on Highway 251 at about 8:03 a.m. on Saturday when it left the road and entered the east ditch at Highway 218 in Udolpho Township.

The Mower County Sheriff’s Office, Austin Fire Department and Mayo Ambulance responded to the scene.

The driver, Aubrieana Rae Strain, 18, was transported to Mayo Clinic Health System-Austin with non-life threatening injuries.

The report indicates the road was covered in snow and ice at the time of the accident.

This past week’s snow had an impact on travel throughout Mower County. According to Austin Police Chief David McKichan, the Austin Police Department responded to 14 accident reports from Jan. 14-16 versus three reports from Jan. 10-13. Likewise, the Mower County Sheriff’s Office responded to eight accident reports from Jan. 14-16 versus two reports from Jan. 10-13.

“I think both (Sheriff) Steve (Sandvik) and I would recommend to folks, based on the noticeable uptick in accidents, to slow down with snow on the roads,” McKichan said. “With the nice weather this winter we are getting a bit of a late start on getting our ‘snow legs’ under us and I think that shows in the data from the weekend storm.”