New Year's Day Winter Storm:
January 1-2, 2005
A classic winter storm brought wintry weather to most of Minnesota on New Years Day,
with the snow lingering across the north through January 2nd. There was a variety of
weather phenomena ranging from freezing rain across the southeast, mainly sleet across the Twin Cities,
and some heavy snow across northeast Minnesota. Thunder and lighting were observed in the Twin Cities,
St. Cloud and around Duluth. The heaviest ice accumulation was around a half an inch in the Altura, Chatfield,
Spring Valley and the Stewartville areas of southeast Minnesota. The Twin Cities saw its heaviest precipitation
since the end of October with a half inch of sleet that melted down to .34 liquid. Some of the pellets of sleet were quite
large and were a quarter inch in size. The heaviest snow was at Babbitt with 10.5 inches of snow.
Below are National Weather Statements from offices serving Minnesota about this winter storm.
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
545 AM CST SUN JAN 2 2005
...WINTERY MIX OF PRECIPITATION PUMMELS MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN...
SIGNIFICANT SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN...AND A LITTLE SNOW HAD FALLEN
ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA...AND WEST CENTRAL
WISCONSIN ON NEW YEARS DAY.
CALLS FROM SNOWFALL SPOTTERS AND COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS...AS WELL AS
LAW ENFORCEMENT INDICATE THAT MOST OF THE ACCUMULATIONS WERE
DUE TO SLEET/ICE PELLETS...ALTHOUGH A SMALL CLUSTER OF COUNTIES IN
WEST CENTRAL AND CENTRAL MINNESOTA RECEIVED 2-4" OF SNOW. MOST OTHER
LOCATIONS RECEIVED BETWEEN A HALF INCH AND ONE INCH OF SLEET ON THE
ROADS...SIDEWALKS...AND GROUND.
THERE HAVE ALSO BEEN ICE ACCUMULATIONS FROM FREEZING RAIN UP TO A TENTH
OF AN INCH...BUT AGAIN...MOST OBSERVERS REPORTED MUCH MORE SLEET
ACCUMULATION THAN ACCUMULATIONS FROM SNOW OR FREEZING RAIN.
HERE ARE A FEW OF THE MORE SUBSTANTIAL SLEET OR SNOW ACCUMULATIONS RECEIVED YESTERDAY EVENING
...EXCEPT FOR LITTLE FALLS...WHICH WAS UPDATED
THIS MORNING.
LOCATION COUNTY AMOUNT /INCHES/
MORA KANABEC 4.0 /MIX OF SLEET AND SNOW/
LONG PRAIRIE TODD 3.5 /MAINLY SNOW/
ALEXANDRIA DOUGLAS 3.5 /MAINLY SNOW/
GLENWOOD POPE 3.0 /MAINLY SNOW/
MORRIS STEVENS 3.0 /MAINLY SNOW/
LITTLE FALLS MORRISON 3.0 /MAINLY SNOW/
CAMBRIDGE ISANTI 2.0 /MIX OF SLEET AND SNOW/
MILACA MILLE LACS 2.0 /MIX OF SLEET AND SNOW/
OAK GROVE ANOKA 2.0 /MIX OF SLEET AND SNOW/
MURDOCK SWIFT 1.0 /MAINLY SLEET/
BENSON SWIFT 1.0 /MAINLY SLEET/
FOLEY BENTON 1.0 /MAINLY SLEET/
GAYLORD SIBLEY 1.0 /MAINLY SLEET/
ST. CLOUD STEARNS 0.8 /MAINLY SLEET/
FRIDLEY ANOKA 0.8 /MAINLY SLEET/
STANLEY RUSK 0.6 /MIX OF SNOW AND SLEET/
FARMINGTON DAKOTA 0.6 /MAINLY SLEET/
NWS CHANHASSEN CARVER 0.5 /MIX OF SLEET AND SNOW/
BLOOMINGTON HENNEPIN 0.2 /MAINLY SLEET/
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
500 PM CST SUN JAN 02 2005
...WINTER STORM...JANUARY 1ST AND 2ND...SNOWFALL TOTALS...
*** SNOWFALL REPORTS FROM COOPERATIVE AND SNOWFALL OBSERVERS ***
KOOCHICHING COUNTY, MN NEW SNOW SNOW DEPTH
====================
LAKE KABETOGAMA............... 4.5 M
LITTLEFORK.................... 4.0 M
RANIER........................ 6.0 13
CASS COUNTY, MN
====================
LONGVILLE..................... 3.0 M
LEADER........................ 3.5 M
REMER......................... 4.0 M
ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MN
====================
DULUTH NWS OFFICE............. 9.5 17
BABBITT....................... 10.2 18
BABBITT 5 N................... 6.0 M
BRIMSON....................... 9.0 17
CHISHOLM...................... 7.0 15
ORR........................... 6.0 14
EMBARRASS..................... 6.0 14
TOWER......................... 6.0 20
PROCTOR....................... 7.5 16
KNIFE RIVER 4 W(DULUTH TOWNSHIP) 5.3 M
MCKINLEY...................... 7.0 M
VIRGINIA 5 N.................. 8.0 16
COOK.......................... 4.0 12
ISLAND LAKE 1 E............... 7.0 M
LAKE COUNTY, MN
====================
BEAVER BAY.................... 7.5 11
TWO HARBORS................... 6.0 17
LITTLE MARAIS................. 8.0 14
SILVER BAY.................... 9.5 14
CARLTON COUNTY, MN
====================
CLOQUET....................... 5.0 M
CLOQUET 4 SE.................. 6.0 10
COOK COUNTY, MN
====================
GRAND MARAIS 5 W.............. 9.5 M
GRAND MARAIS 3 W.............. 7.0 M
LOON LAKE GUNFLINT TRAIL...... 6.0 16
WOLFRIDGE..................... 6.0 25
ITASCA COUNTY, MN
====================
GRAND RAPIDS 5 NE............. 4.5 M
LITTLE BOWSTRING LAKE......... 5.0 9
BIGFORK 20 SE................. 6.0 15
COLERAINE..................... 6.0 M
DIXON LAKE.................... 8.5 13
TWO HARBORS 7 NORTHWEST....... 8.8 19
BIGFORK 5 SOUTH............... 5.5 9
CROW WING COUNTY, MN
====================
BRAINERD 1 N.................. 3.5 10
BRAINERD 2 E.................. 3.4 M
BRAINERD 4 SW................. 2.5 M
NISSWA 3 N.................... 2.5 M
PEQUOT LAKES.................. 3.5 6
EMILY......................... 3.0 6
PINE COUNTY, MN
====================
BRUNO......................... 2.3 6
HINCKLEY...................... 1.3 1
PINE CITY..................... 1.3 M
PINE CITY 3 N................. 2.3 M
HINCKLEY 18 E................. 1.3 M
AITKIN COUNTY, MN
====================
ISLE 12 N..................... 2.7 4
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
130 PM CST SUN JAN 2 2005
...24 HOUR ICE ACCUMULATIONS AROUND THE AREA...
LOCATION COUNTY ICE ACCUMULATION(INCHES)
======== ====== ========================
...MINNESOTA...
ALTURA 5W WINONA 1/2"
CHATFIELD OLMSTED 1/2"
SPRING VALLEY FILLMORE 1/2"
STEWARTVILLE OLMSTED 1/2"
CALEDONIA 6S HOUSTON 3/8"
HARMONY FILLMORE 3/8"
MANTORVILLE 3E DODGE 3/8"
ROCHESTER OLMSTEAD 1/4-1/2"
BYRON OLMSTED 1/4"
ELGIN 2SSW OLMSTEAD 1/4"
GOODVIEW WINONA 1/4"
LYLE 2NE MOWER 1/4"
KELLOG 4S WABASHA 1/4"
THEILMAN 1SSW WABASHA 1/4"
...WISCONSIN...
HOLMEN LA CROSSE 1/5"
LA CROSSE WFO LA CROSSE 1/5"
STODDARD 3NE LA CROSSE 1/5"
Return to Minnesota Climatology Working Group Main Page
URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/storm050102.htm
Last modified: January 4, 2005
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