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
 Return to
Minnesota Climatology Working Group Main Page
URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/snow0312109_10.htm
Last modified: December 16, 2003
|