Heavy Snow over Southern and Central Minnesota:
March 12-13, 2006
A powerful spring storm moved from eastern Kansas to southern Wisconsin on March 12th and 13th. This storm brought numerous tornado reports from Kansas to Illinois. This storm also dumped a swath of heavy snow across central and southern Minnesota and into western Wisconsin. At the Twin Cities International Airport 10.7 inches fell. This was the largest snow amount in a Twin Cities snowstorm since February 1-2, 2004. In this storm 11 inches fell over three days.
The snow began with a mixture of sleet and a rumble of thunder in the evening hours of March 12. About an inch of snow fell during the evening across the Twin Cities. There was a lull in the precipitation later in the evening. Then around 1am on March 13, snow moved back in around the Twin Cities and became heavy during the morning commute. At 8am at the Twin Cities International Airport visibilities were down to an eighth of a mile in heavy snow. The snow gradually tapered off during the early afternoon on the 13th.
One interesting aspect about this storm was the high water content of the snow. In St. Paul, where most of the precipitation fell as snow, 7.8 inches of snow melted down to .84 inches of water. Average precipitation for the entire month of March in the Twin Cities is 1.86 inches. In places where some rain mixed with snow precipitation amounts were even higher. Winnebago saw 1.23 inches of precipitation and Zumbrota saw 1.15 inches.
Map of March 12-13, 2006 snow event from the Chanhassen National Weather Service.
Map of March 12-13, 2006 snow event from the La Crosse National Weather Service.
A lone shoveler tackles the storm in Maplewood.
The wet, sticky snow clings to branches during the morning of March 13th.
Listed below are National Weather Service Statements about this winter storm.
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
230 PM CST TUE MAR 14 2006
...STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL REPORTS FROM MARCH 12 AND 13...
THE FOLLOWING DATA ARE PROVIDED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AREA
SNOWFALL AND COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS...AS WELL AS COUNTY AND CITY
OFFICIALS.
LOCATION COUNTY SNOWFALL
HASTINGS 5SE DAKOTA 19.0
NORTH ST PAUL RAMSEY 12.6
RED WING GOODHUE 12.0
SHERBURN MARTIN 12.0
WOODBURY WASHINGTON 12.0 NEAR I94 AND CR 19
WHITE BEAR LAKE RAMSEY 11.8
MONTGOMERY LE SUEUR 11.7
STILLWATER WASHINGTON 11.5
APPLE VALLEY DAKOTA 11.0
MOUNDSVIEW RAMSEY 11.0
NEW HOPE HENNEPIN 11.0
MINNEAPOLIS...APT HENNEPIN 10.7
ST PAUL RAMSEY 10.6 I94 AND WHITE BEAR AVE
ST PAUL RAMSEY 10.5 LAKE COMO
FALCON HEIGHTS RAMSEY 10.5
FOREST LAKE WASHINGTON 10.5
INVER GROVE HEIGHTS DAKOTA 10.5
ST JAMES WATONWAN 10.5
MAPLEWOOD RAMSEY 10.4
FARMINGTON DAKOTA 9.5
RICHFIELD HENNEPIN 9.5
INDEPENDENCE HENNEPIN 9.0
BLOOMINGTON HENNEPIN 9.0
COMFREY BROWN 9.0
LAKEVILLE DAKOTA 9.0
PRIOR LAKE SCOTT 9.0
ZUMBROTA GOODHUE 9.0
CHASKA CARVER 8.9
ROCKFORD WRIGHT 8.7
ST PAUL RAMSEY 8.1 HIGHLAND PARK
WATERVILLE LE SUEUR 8.0
AFTON WASHINGTON 7.8 NEAR I94 AND CR 71
HUTCHINSON MCLEOD 7.5
FARIBAULT RICE 7.5
CHANHASSEN...NWS CARVER 7.2
EDINA HENNEPIN 7.0
WINNEBAGO FARIBAULT 7.0
ELLENDALE STEELE 7.0
GIBBON SIBLEY 7.0
OAK GROVE ANOKA 6.5
GRANITE FALLS YELLOW MEDICINE 6.0
OWATONNA STEELE 6.0
BRANCH CHISAGO 6.0
BROWNTON MCLEOD 6.0
ELK RIVER SHERBURNE 6.0
JANESVILLE WASECA 6.0
WASECA WASECA 6.0
MORGAN REDWOOD 6.0
NEW ULM BROWN 6.0
ST PETER NICOLLET 6.0
MANKATO BLUE EARTH 6.0 WEST SIDE OF TOWN
ALBERT LEA FREEBORN 6.0
GENEVA LAKE FREEBORN 5.5
BOYD LAC QUI PARLE 5.5
BRADFORD ISANTI 5.0
BUFFALO WRIGHT 5.0
NORTHFIELD RICE 5.0
VESTA REDWOOD 5.0
ANDOVER ANOKA 4.5
WINSTED MCLEOD 4.5
DAWSON LAC QUI PARLE 4.5
CAMBRIDGE ISANTI 4.0
DASSEL MEEKER 3.9
RUSH CITY CHISAGO 3.5
LAKE LILLIAN KANDIHOYI 3.5
ANNANDALE WRIGHT 3.0
LITCHFIELD MEEKER 3.0
MADISON LAC QUI PARLE 2.0
MONTEVIDEO CHIPPEWA 2.0
CLARA CITY CHIPPEWA 2.0
NEW LONDON KANDIYOHI 2.0
ST CLOUD STEARNS 1.7
GILMAN 2N BENTON 1.3
RICE BENTON 1.3
MORRIS STEVENS 0.3
...WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN...
LOCATION COUNTY SNOWFALL
HAUGEN BARRON 23.0
PRESCOTT PIERCE 20.0
RIVER FALLS PIERCE 19.0
CAMERON BARRON 19.0
RICE LAKE 6NW BARRON 19.0
CUMBERLAND BARRON 18.0
BALDWIN ST CROIX 18.0
CLEAR LAKE POLK 17.0
BALDWIN 1 W ST CROIX 16.5
RIDGELAND DUNN 15.0
NEW RICHMOND ST CROIX 13.8
SAND CREEK DUNN 13.3
LUCK POLK 12.0
WEYERHAEUSER RUSK 12.0
BAY CITY PIERCE 11.0
BLOOMER CHIPPEWA 10.0
CORNELL CHIPPEWA 10.0
TONY 5 SE RUSK 9.0
BIG FALLS RUSK 9.0
SPRING VALLEY PIERCE 8.5
MENOMONIE DUNN 8.5
CEDAR FALLS DUNN 8.0
JIM FALLS CHIPPEWA 7.1
STANLEY CHIPPEWA 6.9
CHIPPEWA FALLS CHIPPEWA 6.0
EAU CLAIRE 3 SW EAU CLAIRE 5.9
EAU CLAIRE EAU CLAIRE 5.7
DURAND PEPIN 5.0
AUGUSTA EAU CLAIRE 3.5
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
300 PM CST MON MAR 13 2006
A LATE WINTER STORM DUMPED SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL ACROSS PORTIONS
OF NORTHWEST WISCONSIN SINCE 6AM THIS MORNING. THE GREATEST
SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WERE IN A BAND FROM IRON COUNTY ACROSS
SOUTHERN ASHLAND...SAWYER AND SOUTHERN WASHBURN COUNTIES.
AS OF 3PM THIS AFTERNOON HERE ARE THE HIGHEST TOTALS
GILE..........IRON COUNTY 17.5 INCHES
LORETTA.......SAWYER COUNTY 15.0 INCHES
GLIDDEN.......ASHLAND COUNTY 14.0 INCHES
UPSON.........IRON COUNTY 14.0 INCHES
8S HAYWARD....SAWYER COUNTY 13.0 INCHES
MONTREAL......IRON COUNTY 12.0 INCHES
SANBORN.......ASHLAND COUNTY 12.0 INCHES
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
240 PM CST MON MAR 13 2006
THESE ARE SNOWFALL TOTALS FROM COOPERATIVE AND SNOWFALL OBSERVERS.
NORTHEAST MINNESOTA TIME NEW SNOW STORM TOTAL SNOW DEPTH
ST. LOUIS COUNTY
====================
DULUTH NWS.................... 245 PM 2.9 M 19
COOK COUNTY
====================
LITTLE MARAIS................. 1228 PM 1.2 M M M
LAKE COUNTY
====================
BEAVER BAY.................... 235 PM 1.7 M M
PINE COUNTY
====================
HINCKLEY 2SW................. 1216 PM 1.5 M M
NORTHWEST WISCONSIN TIME NEW SNOW STORM TOTAL SNOW DEPTH
DOUGLAS COUNTY
====================
BENNETT....................... 1220 PM 6.0 M M
POPLAR........................ 132 PM 7.0 M M
SOUTH RANGE................... 132 PM 7.5 M M
BAYFIELD COUNTY
====================
HERBSTER...................... 153 PM 8.0 M M
WASHBURN 4W................... 130 PM 5.5 8.0 20.0
ASHLAND COUNTY
====================
ASHLAND....................... 205 PM 6.5 M M
SANDBORN...................... 202 PM 12.0 M M
IRON COUNTY
====================
GILE.......................... 155 PM 17.5 M M
MONTREAL...................... 110 PM 12.0 M M
UPSON......................... 116 PM 7.0 14.0 M
BURNETT COUNTY
====================
WEBSTER....................... 120 PM 6.0 M M
SAWYER COUNTY
====================
HAYWARD 8S.................... 115 PM 13.0 M M
PRICE COUNTY
====================
PHILLIPS...................... 1200 PM 9.2 M M
PARK FALLS CITY............... 1158 AM 8.0 M M
PHILLIPS 5SW.................. 100 PM 1.8 11.0 16.0
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URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/snow060312_13.htm
Last modified: March 24, 2006
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