Snowstorm of December 9-10, 2003

Moderate to heavy snow fell across southeastern Minnesota on December 9th and tapered off during the morning of December 10th. The moisture came in two waves. One batch of snow dropped 1 to 4 inches across the Twin Cities and south central Minnesota just in time for the morning rush hour on December 9. Then a developing winter storm over Oklahoma moved into Missouri and a large area of snow moved north and northeast out of Iowa and into Minnesota. There was a sharp cutoff to snow amounts with New Hope in Hennepin County receiving 10.6 inches and Buffalo in Wright County picking up only an inch. At one time during the morning hours on December 10th, it was snowing from Branson Missouri to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The most snow reported in Minnesota was 11 inches in Chaska.

The National Weather Service in Chanhassen saw a storm total of 10.5 inches. This was the most snow from a single storm since the 16 inches that fell on March 8-9, 1999. The 9.5 inches measured at Chanhassen on December 9th is a record for the day and is the second most snow in a calendar day In the Twin Cities for December going back to 1948. Chanhassen became the official snow measuring spot for the Twin Cities beginning the 2000-2001 snow season. Before that the official site was at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. The most snow in a calendar day for the Twin Cities in December is 12 inches on December 28, 1982. The season total at Chanhassen so far is 21.3 inches. This is only 10.4 inches shy of the 31.7 that fell during all of last winter. Normal (1971-2000) entire season snowfall for the Twin Cities is 56.3 inches.

Map of December 9-10, 2003 snow event from the Chanhassen National Weather Service.

Listed below are some snowfall totals from this event courtesy the National Weather Service.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
0930 AM CST WED DEC 10 2003
...STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS....

...MINNESOTA....
LOCATION               COUNTY          INCHES   

EDINA                  HENNEPIN         9.0
GOLDEN VALLEY          HENNEPIN         8.5
5 N OF MSP AIRPORT     HENNEPIN         7.5
NEW HOPE               HENNEPIN        10.6
WOODBURY               WASHINGTON       8.5
STILLWATER             WASHINGTON       7.0
FRIDLEY                ANOKA            8.5
MANKATO                BLUE EARTH       5.0
ZUMBROTA               GOODHUE          8.0
ALBERT LEA             FREEBORN         4.0
FREEBORN               FREEBORN         4.8
SAVAGE                 SCOTT            8.1
BUFFALO                WRIGHT           1.0
WASECA                 WASECA           7.0
ST PAUL                RAMSEY           8.0
SPRINGFIELD            BROWN           10.0
ROCKFORD               WRIGHT           6.2
MANKATO                BLUE EARTH       5.5
CRYSTAL                HENNEPIN         8.0
FOREST LAKE            WASHINGTON       7.0
FAIRMONT               MARTIN           6.0
EDEN PRAIRIE           HENNEPIN         8.5
CHASKA                 CARVER          11.0
CHANHASSEN             CARVER          10.5
LITCHFIELD             MEEKER           1.0
OLIVIA                 RENVILLE         3.2
REDWOOD FALLS          REDWOOD          4.5
VESTA                  REDWOOD          5.0
NEW ULM                BROWN            6.3
DASSEL                 MEEKER           1.0
...WISCONSIN...

LOCATION               COUNTY          INCHES   
NEW RICHMOND           ST CROIX         8.0
RIVER FALLS            ST CROIX        11.0
SPRING VALLEY          PIERCE          10.0
STANLEY                CHIPPEWA         3.0
JIM FALLS              CHIPPEWA         4.0
DURAND                 PEPIN            5.0
CHIPPEWA FALLS         CHIPPEWA         4.0
BIG FALLS              RUSK             6.0
BALDWIN                ST CROIX        10.0
BLOOMER                CHIPPEWA         5.0
WEYERHAUSER            RUSK             6.0
CEDAR FALLS            DUNN             8.0

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
922 AM CST WED DEC 10 2003

24 HOUR SNOWFALL TOTALS AND TOTAL SNOWDEPTH ACROSS THE AREA
                             
LOCATION                   COUNTY              SNOWFALL   SNOWDEPTH

...MINNESOTA...
ALTURA 5W                  WINONA                 4.0          2
BYRON 3N                   OLMSTED                5.7          6
CALEDONIA                  HOUSTON                1.0          1
ELGIN 2SSW                 OLMSTED                2.1          2
GRAND MEADOW               MOWER                  4.0          4
HARMONY                    FILLMORE               1.0            M
LA CRESCENT 1NNW           HOUSTON                0.3            M
LAKE CITY COOP             WABASHA                7.0          7
PRESTON                    FILLMORE               0.9          1
RUSHFORD                   FILLMORE               0.5          1
SPRING GROVE 4N            HOUSTON                1.3          1
THEILMAN 1SSW              WABASHA                4.2            M
WABASHA                    WABASHA                2.7          3
MANTORVILLE                DODGE                  3.6            M
                             

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URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/snow0312109_10.htm
Last modified: December 16, 2003