Bloomington snow emergency: parking, plowing and towing rules

By JRUpdated 4h ago·3 min read

TLDR: After 3 inches of snow, or once the city declares a snow emergency, no car may stay on a Bloomington street for 48 hours, or until the street is plowed curb to curb, whichever comes first. Cars left out can be towed. Plows start as early as 2 a.m., main roads first.

When you can't park on the street

The city code bans parking on any Bloomington street in two cases. The first is automatic: once the National Weather Service announces that 3 inches or more of snow has fallen, no car may park or stay on a public street for 48 hours, or until the street has been plowed its full width, whichever comes first (Sec. 8.45). The second is a declared snow emergency, which city staff can call whenever conditions warrant, with the same 48-hours-or-full-width rule once it's posted on the city's website and hotline (Sec. 8.46).

The city's snow page talks only about declared emergencies, so the 3-inch rule is easy to miss. Either way, the safe habit is the city's own advice: move the car off the street before the snow piles up, and leave it off until your street is plowed curb to curb.

The rest of the year's rules still apply: no car on the street more than 24 hours in a row (Sec. 8.41), and none within 5 feet of a driveway or mailbox or 10 feet of a fire hydrant (the city’s parking rules).

How you'll know

Call the snow emergency hotline, 952-563-8768, or look for the alert stripe across the top of bloomingtonmn.gov. The city also posts snow emergencies on its Facebook page, its cable channel and its email and text alerts, which you can sign up for here. The city's emergency alert system isn't used for snow.

Towing and tickets

A car on the street during a parking ban can be ticketed and towed: the code calls it a nuisance that gets in the way of snow removal, and a parking violation is a petty misdemeanor. Bloomington police use Chief's Towing, 8610 Harriet Ave. S., 952-888-2201, for all of their tows. Tickets are paid to the Hennepin County Division IV court, 612-543-0401, not the police. The city doesn't publish the fine or the tow and storage fees; call Chief's for those.

To report a car left on the street during a ban, the city asks you to call 911 and start with “this is not an emergency.”

How the plowing works

Crews go out as early as 2 a.m., starting with the main roads and working out to neighborhoods and cul-de-sacs. A full plow covers 2,016 lane-miles of road and 512 cul-de-sacs, and the city says it routinely clears every street within a day of the snow stopping, though a big storm can stretch a plow event to three days. Bloomington averages 50 inches of snow and about 25 plowings a year.

Wait to clear the end of your driveway until your street has been plowed full width, so you only shovel it once.

Sidewalks

The city plows more than 250 miles of public sidewalk with its own crews: school walking routes, busy wheelchair-accessible walks and walks by main roads first, then walks out from schools and along major roads, then residential and industrial areas. The city's snow page puts a 3- to 5-inch snowfall at about four days to finish.

The city code still says owners must clear the public sidewalk beside their property within 12 hours (Sec. 17.29). In 2025 the council looked at enforcing it and chose not to, so city crews keep plowing the sidewalks.

Your part

Don't push or blow snow from your driveway or yard into the street; the code forbids it (Sec. 17.30).
Set garbage and recycling carts behind the curb, off the sidewalk and away from the end of the driveway.
Keep your mailbox in good repair: on the left side of the driveway, not past the curb, on a sturdy four-by-four post, its bottom at least 45 inches up.
Clear a path from the street to any hydrant near you, and 3 feet all around it.
Snow blowers count as noise: quiet hours are 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Who to call

Snow emergency hotline952-563-8768Whether a snow emergency is on.
Street Maintenance952-563-8760A plow damaged your mailbox or lawn, or a street or sidewalk needs attention. Email [email protected].
911, starting with “this is not an emergency”911A car parked on the street during a parking ban, as the city asks.
Chief’s Towing952-888-2201Where Bloomington police tows go: 8610 Harriet Ave. S.
Hennepin County Division IV court612-543-0401Paying a ticket. The police department doesn’t take payments.

The city has no online form for an unplowed street; call Street Maintenance. More answers on snow and parking are in our FAQ.

Where these rules come from

The city's snow removal page, its December 2025 winter briefings, its sidewalk plowing flyer, the police department's FAQ, and Chapters 8 and 17 of the city code. If the city changes a rule, we'll update this page.