Snow and high winds this week

Snow and high winds this week:

After over a two-week dry spell across most of the state, a slow-moving winter storm brought rain and snow to much of Minnesota over February 17-19 this week. The storm also brought very high winds. There were numerous reports of record daily snowfalls from the climate station network. Some of these included:

Reported on February 18th:
Pokegama Dam 5.0 inches
Cloquet 5.2 inches
Duluth 6.3 inches
Brimson 11.0 inches
Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center 13.0 inches
Two Harbors 7NW 20.3 inches

Reported on February 19th:
Jordan 5.1 inches
Brimson 5.7 inches
Litchfield 6.0 inches
Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center 15.4 inches
Grand Marais 17.5 inches

Some of the storm total snowfall numbers were a bit staggering, including several along the north shore of Lake Superior. A few examples:
38.6 inches at Hovland (Cook County)
28.4 inches at Wolf Ridge (Lake County)
24.2 inches at Tofte (Cook County)
22.5 inches at Grand Marais (Cook County)
20.3 inches at Two Harbors 7NW (Lake County)

Blizzard conditions forced the closure of Hwy 61 for a time along the north shore. Blizzard warnings were also issued for Yellow Medicine, Redwood, Brown, Nicollet, Blue Earth, and Renville Counties in southern and southwestern Minnesota where the winds were exceptionally high. In fact, the wind gusts exceeded 50 mph in many areas of the state and persisted for several hours. Some of the peak wind gusts included:
66 mph at Duluth
56 mph at Baudette, Grand Marais, and Canby
55 mph at Tracy and Redwood Falls
53 mph at Marshall, Worthington, and Hibbing
51 mph at Two Harbors

Weekly Weather Potpourri:

This week’s AGU-EOS Bulletin features an article about global climate trends and an upward temperature trajectory that could threaten to surpass important tipping points for key features of Earth’s climate system. Some of these key features include Arctic permafrost, mountain glaciers, dieback of the Amazon rain forest, and the weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Changes in these features would dramatically destabilize the behavior of the climate system.

The BBC has reported about the very wet start to the year across portions of the United Kingdom. This week they reported on the Cornish village of Cardinham where it has rained for 50 consecutive days! Now that is wet. The last dry day there was December 30 of 2025. Flooding is some areas of t he UK is expected to continue for a while.

Earlier this week on February 17, high winds caused dust storms and diminished visibility along Interstate 25 running south to north in Colorado. Winds were persistently over 30 mph and gusted up to 70 mph during the day. There was a 30-car pile up along I-25 south of Denver. It is not uncommon for winds of this magnitude to plague Colorado roads and highways. A more comprehensive report on this weather situation is available at the Weather Underground web site.

MPR listener question:

We were amazed to see the 26.6 inches of snow reported from Hovland along the north shore this morning (Thursday). With the remarkable snowfall amounts coming from northeastern Minnesota, along Lake Superior, this week, we were wondering how many times has a daily snowfall of 25 inches or greater been measured in Minnesota?

Answer:

By my count an observer in Minnesota has reported 25 inches of snow or greater over a daily period only 10 times in history, including the February 19th report this week from Hovland. Of the 10 reports of daily snowfalls of 25 inches or greater, the largest is 36 inches at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center in Lake County which occurred on January 7 of 1994. In fact, 6 of these 10 historically large daily snowfalls have occurred along the north shore counties of Minnesota. These include locations like Wolf Ridge, Isabella, Hovland, and Pigeon River. There has been one of these big storms in the Red River Valley (Kittson County in 1966), one near Mille Lacs in central Minnesota (1991), and one in southern Minnesota at St James (Watonwan County) in 1943. All were slow moving storm systems.

Twin Cities Almanac for February 20th:

The average MSP high temperature for this date is 30 degrees F (plus or minus 12 degrees F standard deviation), while the average low is 15 degrees F (plus or minus 13 degrees F standard deviation).

MSP Local Records for February20th:

MSP records for this date: highest daily maximum temperature of 57 degrees F in 1981; lowest daily maximum temperature of -4 degrees F in 1918; lowest daily minimum temperature of -20 degrees F in 1889; highest daily minimum temperature of 41 degrees F in 2017, and record precipitation of 0.85 inches in 2011. Record snowfall for this date is 11.8 inches also in 2011

Average dew point for February 20th is 12°F; the maximum dew point on this date is 51°F in 2017 and the minimum dew point on this date is -26 degrees F in 1966.

All-time state records for February 20th:

The state record high temperature for this date is 65 degrees F at Tracy (Lyon County) in 1930, at Canby (Yellow Medicine County) and Luverne (Rock County) in 1981, and at Lamberton (Redwood County) in 2017. The state record low temperature for this date is -50 degrees F at Baudette (Lake of the Woods County) in 1966. The statewide record for precipitation on this date is 2.00 inches at Aitkin 2E (Aitkin County) in 2018. A record 16.0 inches of snow fell at Marshall (Lyon County) in 1952.

Past Weather:

A slow-moving winter storm brought very heavy snowfall to western Minnesota over February 19-20 of 1952. Many communities reported from 12 inches to 20 inches of new snow. Milan, Dawson, and Madison all reported over 20 inches, and Marshall reported over 30 inches of snowfall from this storm. There were dozens of climate stations that set new daily records for snowfall. Some schools were closed for two days.

With snow cover ranging from 1 foot to 3feet across the state, an Arctic high pressure system brought record-breaking cold temperatures to Minnesota on February 20 of 1966. Virtually all areas of the state reported subzero morning low temperatures, mostly ranging from the teens below zero to -30°F Several northern areas reported -40°F or colder. The afternoon high temperature at Hallock (Kittson County) only reached -15°F,

Dozens of communities reported record-setting daily maximum temperatures on February 20 of 1981. Fifteen counties in southern and southwestern Minnesota reported afternoon highs in the 60s F. There was no snow on the ground and after several days of warm temperatures, some farmers were seen tilling fields and planting small grain crops in southwestern counties.

Outlook:

More sun over the weekend, with cool than normal temperatures on blustery winds by Sunday. There will be a chance for snow in northern areas for Monday and Tuesday. Temperatures will warm later next week to normal values or even above normal values, with a chance for rain or snow again by Thursday.