|
Early Snow October 20-21, 2002
The cool October weather brought heavy snow in a narrow band across central Minnesota. One of the higher amounts reported was 9 inches at Little Falls. The heaviest snow was in a 10 to 20 mile wide band of 6 to 8 inches from Fergus Falls to Hinckley. Lesser amounts fell on either side of this line. The Twin Cities saw snow mixed with sleet at times, but little of it accumulated. The northern suburbs saw more snow than the southern parts of town. Maplewood picked up .7 inches, although the most on the ground at any one time was a half an inch. Officially at Chanhassen .2 inches of snow fell on October 20. This is the first official measurable snowfall of the season. Another .3 inches fell on October 21.
Listed below is information from St. Cloud State University on the snow and National Weather Service Public information statements about the snow. From:Bob Weisman, Meteorology Professor St. Cloud State University St. Cloud Snowfall As of 6 AM, I measured 3.9 inches of snow at SCSU, which is now the official reporting station for the city. This is a record snowfall for Oct. 21, since the old record was only 0.2 inches in 1987. We are getting close to the October daily record snowfall, which is 4.9 inches on October 23, 1995, but the snow is just about over, so we probably won’t make it. Still, this storm will go down as the second largest October snowfall on record. With the overnight snow, the total snowfall for October is now 6.4 inches. This makes October 2002 the second snowiest winter in the 96 years of Saint Cloud snowfall records. The only October with more snow was October 1936 with 6.8 inches. Yes, I hear the howling about the 1991 Halloween Blizzard. While that storm did produce a total of 13.0 inches in Saint Cloud, only 3.1 inches fell before midnight on Oct. 31, so the storm only ranks fourth in October snowfall records. Since the Halloween blizzard was the only snowfall in October 1991, that October only ranks as the eighth snowiest on record. Listed below is information on the snow from the various National Weather Service Offices serving Minnesota : COOPERATIVE OBSERVER REPORTS :VALUES ARE FOR THE PREVIOUS 24 HOURS ENDING AT 8 AM LOCAL TIME : : STATION MAX MIN 24-HR SNOW SNOW : NAME TEMP TEMP PCPN FALL DEPTH MPXM5: CHANHASSEN MN NWS : 38 / 33 / 0.05 / 0.5 / 0 FORM5: FOREST LAKE MINNESOTA : M / M / 0.52 / 3.9 / 4 LCHM5: LITCHFIELD MINNESOTA : 35 / 30 / 0.25 / M / M MLCM5: MILACA MINNESOTA : M / M / 0.56 / 8.0 / M BLHM5: ROYALTON MINNESOTA : M / M / 0.42 / 5.0 / 5 SCOM5: ST CLOUD MN (SCSU) : M / M / 0.33 / 3.9 / 4 WASM5: WASECA MINNESOTA : 50 / 28 / 0.06 / M / M DASM5: DASSEL MINNESOTA : M / M / 0.06 / 0.9 / 1 FRMM5: FARMINGTON MINNESOTA : M / M / 0.17 / T / 0 HSTM5: HASTINGS LOCK & DAM 2 : M / M / 0.15 / M / M LTFM5: LITTLE FALLS MN : M / M / M / 9.0 / 9 LGPM5: LONG PRAIRIE MINNESOTA: M / M / 0.71 / 6.5 / 7 LSAM5: LOWER ST ANTHONY FALLS: M / M / 0.12 / M / M MKAM5: MANKATO MINNESOTA : M / M / 0.13 / M / M MGMM5: MONTGOMERY MINNESOTA : M / M / 0.54 / M / M ONMM5: ONAMIA MINNESOTA : M / M / 0.31 / M / M RDWM5: RED WING LOCK & DAM 3 : M / M / 0.30 / M / M RKFM5: ROCKFORD MINNESOTA : M / M / 0.12 / 1.4 / 1 SPFM5: SPRINGFIELD MINNESOTA : M / M / 0.07 / M / M STAW3: STANLEY WISCONSIN : 36 / 30 / 0.45 / 5.1 / 5 STLM5: STILLWATER MINNESOTA : M / M / 0.26 / 0.5 / ZBRM5: ZUMBROTA MINNESOTA : 44 / 33 / 0.35 / 1.0 / 0 BR DLH 1021 C DH07/TX/TN/PP/SF/SD : : COOPERATIVE OBSERVATIONS : VALUES ARE FOR THE PREVIOUS 24 HOURS ENDING AT 7 AM LOCAL TIME : BRAM5: BRAINERD MN : 36 / 28 / M/ 2.5 / M GDPM5: GRAND PORTAGE MN : 42 / 27 / 0.00/ 0.0 / 0 BABM5: BABBITT MINNESOTA : 33 / 24 / T/ T / T COKM5: 5E COOK MINNESOTA : 35 / 26 / 0.00/ M / M BAYW3: BAYFIELD WISCONSIN : 40 / 29 / 0.10/ 0.5 / M BUTW3: 3N BUTTERNUT WI : 37 / 27 / 0.18/ 2.0 / 2 GURW3: GURNEY WISCONSIN : 38 / 25 / 0.07/ 1.0 / 1 DLH : NWS DULUTH MN : 37 / 28 / 0.26/ 3.9 / 3 PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS 845 PM PM CDT SUN OCT 20 2002 ...NARROW BAND OF HEAVY SNOW ACROSS SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA... A 10-20 MILE WIDE BAND OF 6-8 INCHES OF SNOW FELL SUNDAY ACROSS PARTS OF SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA INTO WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA. THE BAND WAS CENTERED FROM FORT RANSOM AND LISBON IN RANSOM COUNTY...EAST TO JUST NORTH OF WAHPETON AND BRECKENRIDGE...THEN TO FERGUS FALLS AND PARKERS PRAIRIE IN OTTER TAIL COUNTY. ...SNOW TOTALS FOR SUNDAY 10/20 AS MEASURED BY SPOTTERS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC BETWEEN 6 AM AND 8 PM CDT... FORT RANSOM ND (RANSOM CO)...6-7 INCHES LIBSON ND (RANSOM CO)...6-7 INCHES 3E MCLEOD ND (RICHLAND CO)...8 INCHES 2W GALCHUTT ND OR 6S COLFAX (RICHLAND CO)...8 INCHES DWIGHT ND (RICHLAND CO)...6 INCHES WAHPETON/BRECKENRIDGE...5 INCHES BRUSHVALE MN OR 7N BRECKENRIDGE (WILKIN CO)...7 INCHES FOXHOME MN (WILKIN CO)...7 INCHES 3W FERGUS FALLS (OTTER TAIL CO)...7-8 INCHES FERGUS FALLS (OTTER TAIL CO)...6-7 INCHES 7SW BATTLE LAKE (OTTER TAIL CO)...7 INCHES PARKERS PRAIRIE (OTTER TAIL CO)...6 INCHES WITH 10-12 ON THE GROUND 2S PARKERS PRAIRIE (OTTER TAIL CO)...5 INCHES WITH 10 ON THE GROUND ASHBY (GRANT CO)...3 INCHES IN CONTRAST... 3SE PELICAN RAPIDS MN (OTTER TAIL CO)...NONE TODAY (3 ON THE GROUND) CHRISTINE ND (RICHLAND CO)...TRACE KINDRED ND...TRACE WADENA...NONE FARGO/MOORHEAD...TRACE GRAND FORKS...NONE PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 715 PM CDT SUN OCT 20 2002 ...SNOW TOTALS FROM CENTRAL MINNESOTA AS OF 7 PM... .....CITY..........COUNTY ......SNOWFALL RANDALL MORRISON 5.0 CLARISSA TODD 4.2 LITTLE FALLS MORRISON 3.0 6 W ONAMIA MILLE LACS 2.0 MORA KANABEC 1.0 PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 925 PM CDT SUN OCT 20 2002 ...SNOW TOTALS FROM CENTRAL MINNESOTA AS OF 915 PM... .....CITY..........COUNTY ......SNOWFALL 8 SW CLARISSA TODD 8.0 BROWERVILLE TODD 6.0 LITTLE FALLS MORRISON 5.5 LONG PRAIRIE TODD 3.0 7 N ALEXANDRIA DOUGLAS 2.0 MILACA MILLE LACS 1.5 TDK PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 932 AM CDT MON OCT 21 2002 24 HOUR SNOWFALL TOTALS AND TOTAL SNOWDEPTH ACROSS THE AREA LOCATION COUNTY SNOWFALL SNOWDEPTH ...MINNESOTA... LA CRESCENT 1NNW HOUSTON T M WABASHA WABASHA T 0 ...WISCONSIN... CHIPPEWA FALLS CHIPPEWA 1.5 2 ELK MOUND DUNN 1.5 M ETTRICK 5SE TREMPEALEAU 1.5 M FRIENDSHIP 3E ADAMS 0.5 M GOODRICH 1E TAYLOR 4.0 M HIXTON 5W JACKSON 1.2 M HOLCOMBE CHIPPEWA 5.2 M LA CROSSE 4NNW LA CROSSE T 0 LA CROSSE WFO LA CROSSE 0.2 0 LUBLIN TAYLOR 3.3 M MATHER JACKSON 1.0 1 MONDOVI 6S BUFFALO T M NECEDAH 2SE JUNEAU 0.5 NEILLSVILLE 3SW CLARK 2.0 OWEN 3W CLARK 6.0 M TAYLOR JACKSON 0.3 M PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 414 AM CDT MON OCT 21 2002 ...SNOW TOTALS ACROSS CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AS OF 400 AM... COUNTY......SNOWFALL MORRISON 6 TO 8 INCHES KANABEC 5 TO 6 INCHES MILLE LACS 5 INCHES STEARNS 4 INCHES DOUGLAS 3 INCHES ISANTI 3 INCHES TODD 3 INCHES POPE 2 TO 3 INCHES STEVENS 1 TO 2 INCHES POLK 1 TO 2 INCHES (ROADS REPORTED AS VERY SLIPPERY) BARRON 1 TO 2 INCHES (ROADS REPORTED AS VERY SLIPPERY)
mcwg@soils.umn.edu |
Return to Minnesota Climatology Working Group Main page