Students, staff and faculty traveled through snow Monday morning as the first major snowfall of the new semester dumped more than 3 inches on St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The snowstorm moved in Sunday night and continued through most of Monday. By late afternoon, more than 3 inches of snow had accumulated in the metro area.

The city of Minneapolis declared its sixth snow emergency of the season to clear out the new accumulation. Typically, the city declares only three per winter.

Sophomore Libby Jacoby said she was hoping classes would be canceled.

“We had our fingers crossed,” Jacoby said. “We were listening for our phones to buzz with emails.”

The snow slowed students’ commute to class Monday morning, but junior Mckenzie Hendrickx said he’s seen much worse weather during his time at St. Thomas.

“It was a little difficult driving to school today, but it’s been a lot worse,” Hendrickx said.

Jacoby said she wasn’t looking forward to going outside Monday morning.

“Strapping on my boots definitely made me less motivated to go to class,” Jacoby said.

After experiencing temperatures as low as minus 15 on campus last week, freshman Karlee Blanchard said she would rather have snow.

“I was just glad it’s not negative temperatures,” Blanchard said. “I’ll take this over below freezing any day.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.