St. Paul Public Works chose not to declare a snow emergency on Monday, despite forecasts that 5 to 9 inches of snow were expected by Tuesday morning.

Minneapolis made the same call.

So what gives?

St. Paul officials say they typically declare snow emergencies — with parking restrictions, tagging and towing — after snowfalls of 3 inches or more, or after an accumulation of 3 inches or more from several snowfalls.

RELATED: Storm dropped 4 inches on St. Paul, 14 on Menahga

Snow certainly accumulated Monday, though some of it was washed away by afternoon rains. And yes, city plows were out salting and clearing major arterial streets. But snows didn’t really start to pile up until late in the evening, which makes citywide parking restrictions a tricky judgement call.

During snow emergencies, parking restrictions always go into effect at 9 p.m., and city officials try to give residents a few hours lead time before they have to move their cars.

That means a decision pretty much needs to get made by 6 p.m. — and it’s not always clear by then if the city is wrestling with the storm of the century or a wimpy little poser.

After monitoring weather reports, snow accumulation and road conditions, St. Paul Public Works Director Kathy Lantry made the decision not to call a snow emergency around 5 p.m. Monday, based in large part on the storm’s delayed arrival and lighter-than-anticipated loads.

Instead of heavy snow, St. Paul experienced rain and freezing rain until around 4 p.m. Lantry noted there was 1.5 inches of snowfall on the ground shortly after that hour, and an additional 4 inches expected overnight and into Tuesday.

“If we declared a snow emergency for tonight, the late arrival of the storm would have us out trying to complete that night phase of a snow emergency before the bulk of the snow was on the ground,” said Lantry at the time. “It makes more sense for our plows to be out on our major streets overnight, and evaluate conditions in the morning.”

Shortly before 5:30 p.m. Monday, Public Works issued a statement noting the storm had been downgraded.

“The city of St. Paul’s Department of Public Works has been closely monitoring the different precipitation models, current road conditions and changing weather.

“We’ve been waiting and watching this winter storm like everyone else,” said Lantry, in the statement. “This particular storm has been tough to anticipate. The models have indicated low confidence in snow totals and the snow looks like it will be coming later than originally anticipated.”

Was it the right call?

On social media, criticism of the decision was fairly muted.

Waiting til tomorrow night is the correct call https://t.co/CycZi0ZMRI — Jeff ⚡ Underbridges (@shovelfoot) March 6, 2018

Given several inches of accumulation overnight and light but consistent snowfall toward noon, Tuesday morning commutes were messy everywhere.

Meanwhile, St. Paul Regional Water Services were busy Tuesday in downtown St. Paul after a patch from a water main break in January settled.

It left a 7-foot-by-7-foot hole about 4 inches deep at Sixth and Robert streets, said Brad Eilts, the department’s distribution division manager. He said crews filled in the hole with asphalt within 30 minutes.

“Sometimes, when things are thawing, any ice that’s in there will melt and the ground will settle,” Eilts said. “It’s pretty common in spring to have problems with our winter patches settling.”

Mara H. Gotttfried contributed to this report.