Minnesota WeatherTalk

Big snows this week for parts of the state: February 20-23, 2023 will long be remembered for heavy snowfalls across the state. A series of three low-pressure systems brought snowfalls to much of the state over those days. These storms mostly affected central and southern portions of Minnesota, although the snowfall on February 21st was record-setting at Leech Lake, with 5.0 inches and at Cass Lake with 3.8 inches. Most of the record or near-record snowfalls occurred over February 22-23.  Some examples of daily snowfall records on February 22nd are: 6.0 inches at Rosemount 5.2 inches at Minnesota City 5.0 inches at Marshall and Dawson 4.8 inches at Windom Records on February 23rd included: 13.0 inches at Owatonna 11.4 inches at Wabasha 10.2 inches at Lamberton 10.0 inches at Red Wind Dam 9.0 inches at Faribault More impressive were the snowfall totals, which left a large footprint of 10 to 20 inches across the southern half of the state. Tauton in Lyon County reported 21 inches...

Record-setting wet Valentine’s Day As a prelude to Valentine’s Day this week Minnesota saw many more days of sunshine and warm southwest winds prevail for several days. This brought warmer and more moist air to the state, keeping both daytime and nighttime temperatures well above normal. International Falls set a new record high temperature on February 11th with a reading of 47°F, Tower set a record high on February 12th with 49°F, and Cambridge set a record high of 44°F on February 13th. Many other Minnesota climate stations reported near-record high temperatures over those few days as well. The temperatures helped melt snow eliminated some ice patches leftover on sidewalks and driveways. Following those mild days, a slow moving low pressure weather system moved up from the Southern Plains States and brought prolonged rainfall on Valentine’s Day (February 14), literally an all-day rain in many places. This is highly unusual for mid-February. Over 100 climate stations set new da...