Snow Storm Hits Minnesota (January 3-5, 1997)

A major storm system passing through the central United States brought a wintery mess to the state of Minnesota this past weekend. The storm first began to influence Minnesota late in the afternoon of Friday - January 3, with freezing rain in western sections of the state. The precipitation continued as a mix of rain, freezing rain, ice pellets, and snow in the south and east on Saturday - January 4; but changed over to all snow across western, central, and northern Minnesota. Some areas of west central and central Minnesota received over two feet of snow, making this one of the larger snowfalls on record. The precipitation ended ended early Sunday - January 5, but high winds throughout the day caused extensive blowing and drifting, further hampering travel.

Radar-based precipitation estimates are available for the 24 hour period ending 6 AM: January 4, and January 5.

Storm Snowfall Totals, January 3-5, 1997
Northwest North Central Northeast
Moorhead 11"
Detroit Lakes 10"
Ada 7"
Itasca State Park 6"
Mahnomen 4"
Bemidji 2"
Fosston 2"
Grand Forks, ND Tr
Crookston 0"
Warroad 0"
 Gull Lake 19"
Brainerd 18"
Park Rapids 10"
International Falls 0"
 Duluth 18"
West Central Central East Central
Browns Valley 28"
Wheaton 27"
Fergus Falls 24"
Alexandria 21"
Elbow Lake 20"
Breckenridge 15"
Morris 14"
Canby 8"
 Long Prairie 20"
Wadena 19"
Little Falls 19"
St. Cloud 12"
Cokato 11"
Buffalo 10"
Willmar 7"
Hutchinson 5"
Elk River 5"
 Aitkin 23"
Isle 19"
Cambridge 10"
Forest Lake 8"
Chanhassen 6"
Mound 5"
Brooklyn Park 5"
Twin Cities Airport 4"
Southwest South Central Southeast
Fairmont 4"
Sioux Falls 2"
 Mankato 3"
Amboy 2"
New Ulm 2"
Albert Lea 1"
 Rochester 2"
Zumbrota 2"
La Crosse, WI 1"

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URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/ss970105.htm
Last modified: January 6, 1997