Very Heavy Snow of April 5 - April 7, 2008
Visible satellite of the recent snowfall 1:15pm CDT on April 7, 2008. There are clouds obscuring the snow over the right side of the photo.
Courtesy Grand Forks National Weather Service
A stationary front draped across central Minnesota on Saturday, April 5th set the stage for a heavy snow event over west central and northern Minnesota. The front separated cooler air north of the front and balmy air to the south. An area of low pressure developed along the front over southeast South Dakota on Sunday, April 6 and then moved sluggishly east-northeastward. By the early hours of Monday, April 7th the low was over the Twin Cities. There was plenty of moisture on hand for the storm, along with just enough cold air to create one of the heaviest snowfalls in recent memory. The snow began after dark on Saturday, April 5th and continued, heavy at times, through the day on Sunday, April 6th. The heaviest snow was in a path 100 miles wide from Aberdeen, South Dakota, northeastward through Fergus Falls, Bemidji, and then eastward through the Iron Range. By the afternoon of April 7, the low had drifted to northeast Wisconsin and the snow gradually tapered off over northeast Minnesota.
Amounts were impressive. A band of one to two feet of snow fell from Itasca State Park to Babbitt. The heaviest three-day total reported was 32 inches, 5 miles north of Virginia by an unofficial National Weather Service Cooperative Observer. Dixon lake in Itasca County was not far behund with 29 inches. Along with the snow, some needed moisture fell over Wadena and Otter Tail Counties, as well as other parts of northern Minnesota.
The heaviest one day snowfall total record for Minnesota in April is 28 inches. That was set during a snowstorm at the old Pigeon River Bridge crossing in Cook County along the Canadian border. On April 5, 1933, 28.0 inches fell in one day. The highest one-day total from this snowfall found so far was 5 miles north of Virginia with 20 inches for the 24 hour period ending at 8am April 7.
Below are snow and precipitation reports from this storm courtesy the National Weather Service.
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
412 PM CDT MON APR 07 2008
A MAJOR EARLY SPRING SNOWSTORM BROUGHT UP TO TWO FEET OF SNOW IN
PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MINNESOTA THIS WEEKEND...WHILE DULUTH AND
AREAS SOUTH AND EAST RECEIVED A MIXTURE OF PRECIPITATION...AND
LITTLE SNOWFALL.
THE FOLLOWING ARE SNOWFALL TOTALS FOR THE STORM...WHICH BEGAN
SATURDAY EVENING AND ENDED MONDAY MORNING. APPRECIATION IS EXTENDED
TO SNOWFALL SPOTTERS...CO-OPERATIVE OBSERVERS...AND TRANSPORTATION
OFFICIALS FOR THESE REPORTS.
SNOW REPORTS LISTED BY AMOUNT
INCHES LOCATION ST COUNTY TIME
------ ----------------------- -- -------------- -------
32.00 5 N VIRGINIA MN ST. LOUIS 0815 AM
12 INCHES SINCE SUNDAY EVENING...32 INCHES
TOTAL.
29.00 21 NE CASS LAKE MN ITASCA 0955 AM
STORM TOTAL...DIXON LAKE.
27.00 CASS LAKE MN CASS 1155 PM
26.50 CHISHOLM MN ST. LOUIS 0730 AM
STORM TOTAL.
26.00 BABBITT MN ST. LOUIS 0815 AM
12 INCHES SINCE 7AM SUNDAY...26 INCHES TOTAL.
26.00 MARCELL MN ITASCA 0800 AM
STORM TOTAL.
25.00 15 N GRAND RAPIDS MN ITASCA 0625 AM
STORM TOTAL
24.80 7 N MARCELL MN ITASCA 0800 AM
STORM TOTAL.
24.50 CHISHOLM MN ST. LOUIS 1155 PM
23.50 COHASSET MN ITASCA 0901 PM
23.00 GRAND RAPIDS MN ITASCA 0745 AM
STORM TOTAL.
22.00 WIRT MN ITASCA 1210 PM
STORM TOTAL.
22.00 EMBARRASS MN ST. LOUIS 0700 AM
STORM TOTAL.
22.00 WIRT MN ITASCA 0901 PM
21.40 3 E ORR MN ST. LOUIS 1000 AM
20.10 ORR MN NORTHWEST ST. L 0610 AM
STORM TOTAL
19.00 BALSAM MN AITKIN 0645 AM
19.00 TOWER MN ST. LOUIS 0901 PM
18.00 BOWSTRING MN ITASCA 1130 AM
STORM TOTAL.
18.00 4 NW LONGVILLE MN CASS 0800 AM
STORM TOTAL.
17.00 5 NW REMER MN CASS 0901 PM
15.00 HOYT LAKES MN ST. LOUIS 1030 AM
STORM TOTAL.
15.00 SEA GULL LAKE MN COOK 0730 AM
STORM TOTAL.
13.00 3 SW LITTLEFORK MN KOOCHICHING 0930 AM
STORM TOTAL.
11.00 LEADER MN CASS 0730 AM
STORM TOTAL.
10.00 INTERNATIONAL FALLS MN KOOCHICHING 1255 PM
9.50 8 W PALISADE MN AITKIN 0945 AM
8 INCHES SINCE NOON SUNDAY...9.5 INCHES STORM
TOTAL.
9.00 25 NE GRAND MARAIS MN COOK 0800 AM
STORM TOTAL.
9.00 BRIMSON MN ST. LOUIS 0640 AM
3 INCHES SINCE 6 PM...9 INCHES STORM TOTAL.
9.00 BREEZY POINT MN CROW WING 0625 AM
8.60 CANYON MN SOUTHWEST ST. L 0515 AM
SINCE 600 AM SUNDAY
8.00 22 N AITKIN MN AITKIN 1000 AM
STORM TOTAL.
8.00 COTTON MN ST. LOUIS 0645 AM
STORM TOTAL
6.80 LITTLEFORK MN KOOCHICHING 0830 AM
4.9 INCHES SINCE SUNDAY AFTERNOON...6.8 INCHES
TOTAL.
6.50 FLOODWOOD MN ST. LOUIS 0800 AM
STORM TOTAL.
6.50 5 N PILLAGER MN CASS 0745 AM
STORM TOTAL.
6.00 5 N GRAND MARAIS MN COOK 0930 AM
MOSTLY RAIN OVERNIGHT AND THIS MORNING.
6.00 3 NE NISSWA MN CROW WING 0830 AM
STORM TOTAL.
6.00 PEQUOT LAKES MN CROW WING 0700 AM
5.50 N ALBORN MN ST. LOUIS 0730 AM
4.50 CULVER MN SOUTHWEST ST. L 0600 AM
STORM TOTAL
3.80 3 N BRAINERD MN CROW WING 0630 AM
2.50 EXELAND WI SAWYER 1130 AM
2.00 DULUTH MN ST. LOUIS 0640 AM
RICE LAKE TOWNSHIP.
1.80 DULUTH MN ST. LOUIS 0930 AM
LAKEWOOD TOWNSHIP...SNOW AND SLEET TOTAL.
1.50 SILVER BAY MN LAKE 0700 AM
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
1150 AM CDT MON APR 7 2008
...SNOWFALL REPORTS FROM THE EVENT OF APRIL 5-6TH...
THE FOLLOWING ARE SNOW AMOUNTS FOR THE PREVIOUS 3 DAYS
AS MEASURED IN THE MORNING BY NWS COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS.
OBSERVATIONS ARE USUALLY TAKEN AT 7 AM.
3-DAY SNOW TOTALS FOR MONDAY (04/07/08)
AS OF 10:33 AM CDT
NORTH DAKOTA 3-DAY SNOW FALL
LOCATION (COUNTY): AMT(IN)
HAVANA (SARGENT)..............................7.5
FARGO/MOOHREAD................................5.7
FORMAN (SAGENT)...............................4.5
LIDGERWOOD (RICHLAND).........................4.0
WAHPETON (RICHLAND)...........................4.0
LISBON (RANSOM)...............................3.5
MINNESOTA 3-DAY SNOW FALL
LOCATION (COUNTY): AMT(IN)
BEMIDJI 6S (HUBBARD).........................26.0
PARK RAPIDS 10N (HUBBARD)....................24.0
BEMIDJI (BELTRAMI)...........................22.0
LONG LOST LAKE (CLEARWATER)..................22.0
PARK RAPIDS (HUBBARD)........................20.0
BLACKDUCK (BELTRAMI).........................20.0
ITASCA U OF M (CLEARWATER)...................19.0
NEW YORK MILLS 3NW (OTTER TAIL)..............14.0
SEBEKA (WADENA)..............................14.0
PHELPS MILL (OTTER TAIL).....................11.0
NAYTAHWAUSH (MAHNOMEN).......................11.0
WADENA (WADENA)..............................10.5
BAGLEY (CLEARWATER)..........................10.0
DETROIT LAKES/KDLM RADIO(BECKER).............10.0
FERGUS FALLS/KBRF RADIO (OTTER TAIL)..........9.2
PELICAN RAPIDS (OTTER TAIL)...................8.0
SABIN (CLAY)..................................6.2
ROTSHAY (WILKIN)..............................6.0
MAHNOMEN (MAHNOMEN)...........................6.0
BARNESVILLE 5NE (CLAY)........................5.5
WASKISH (BELTRAMI)............................5.5
FOSSTON (POLK)................................5.0
TWIN VALLEY (NORMAN)..........................4.0
ADA (NORMAN)..................................4.0
DALTON 3S (OTTER TAIL)........................4.9
ELBOW LAKE 5SE (GRANT)........................4.0
RED LAKE (BELTRAMI)...........................4.0
BRECKENRIDGE (WILKIN).........................4.0