A brief, but intense snowburst hit the Twin Cities between 10am and Noon on March 8th and dumped a quick 2 inches of snow in roughly an hour. 2.5 inches of snow was measured at the University of Minnesota St. Paul Campus from 9:30am to 11:30am. The snow limited visibilities to an eighth of a mile at times and caused numerous crashes on metro-area roads. I-94 was closed at Highway 280 for a time during the afternoon hours and westbound I-94 was also detoured at White Bear Avenue through 1:30pm. The snow was caused by a small Alberta Clipper racing to the southeast. By early afternoon, most of the snow had moved into Wisconsin.

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

341 ABUS34 KMPX 082055
PNSMSP
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT          
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
255 PM CST MON MAR 8 2004

...AN UPDATED LIST OF REPORTS FROM TODAY'S SNOWFALL...

CITY................COUNTY.............AMOUNT (IN INCHES)
ST. PAUL AIRPORT    RAMSEY             3.0
NORTH MINNEAPOLIS   HENNEPIN           3.0
SOUTH ST. PAUL      RAMSEY             2.0
CRYSTAL AIRPORT     HENNEPIN           2.0
NEW RICHMOND        ST. CROIX          1.8
MPLS/ST. PAUL APT   HENNEPIN           1.6
FOREST LAKE         WASHINGTON         1.4
RED WING            GOODHUE            1.0
FLYING CLOUD APT    HENNEPIN           1.0
CHANHASSEN          CARVER             0.7
MONTGOMERY          LE SUEUR           TRACE

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URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/snowburst040308.htm
Last modified: March 5, 2004