Courtesy: David Samson, Fargo Forum
An early October snow storm hit Northeast North Dakota and Northwest Minnesota from October 3rd-5th, 2012. This winter storm produced heavy, wet snow and wind gusts in excess of 40 mph. As of 3PM on Thursday, October 4th, the highest snowfall total found was 14 inches was recorded 10 miles NNW of Badger in Roseau County. Other snowfalls include 4 inches in Hallock, 6 inches in Karlstad, and 5 inches in Stephen. The heavy, wet snow and blizzard-like conditions caused several power outages and concerns for travel throughout most of the area. On the positive side, the snowfall dampened the ongoing wildfires in Northwestern Minnesota.
On October 5th, the cold air associated with this system swept across the state and light snow spread into north central and northeast Minnesota. International Falls saw one inch of snow on the ground by the morning of October 5. Winds were gusty on October 4th and 5th with a peak gust of 46mph on October 4th at Duluth. The high temperature hovered in the mid 40's on October 5 in the Twin Cities, about 17 degrees cooler than normal.
Listed below are Public Information Statements and Record Event Reports from the National Weather Service.
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 430 PM CDT THU OCT 4 2012 ...PRELIMINARY SNOWFALL REPORTS FROM THE AREA... ESTIMATED MAXIMUM SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS AS OF 3PM: Location Max. Depth ---------------------------------------------------- HALLOCK (KITTSON CO.) 4 INCHES KARLSTAD (KITTSON CO.) 6 INCHES 2W BADGER (ROSEAU CO.) 12 INCHES 10NNW BADGER (ROSEAU CO.) 14 INCHES ROSEAU (ROSEAU CO.) 7 INCHES STEPHEN (MARSHALL CO.) 5 INCHES MIDDLE RIVER (MARSHALL CO.) 8 INCHES (VARIABLE 4-8) GRYGLA (MARSHALL CO.) 3 INCHES THIEF RIVER FALLS (PENNINGTON CO.) 4 INCHES (VARIABLE 3-6) RED LAKE FALLS (RED LAKE CO.) 4 INCHES 3S ANGUS (POLK CO.) 8 INCHES (VARIABLE 4-8) 3SE CROOKSTON (POLK CO.) 6 INCHES ADA (NORMAN CO.) 4 INCHES (VARIABLE 3-4) MOORHEAD (CLAY CO.) 1.4 INCHES (AS OF 7AM) RECORD EVENT REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS 305 AM CDT FRI OCT 5 2012 ...RECORD DAILY MAXIMUM SNOWFALL SET AT GRAND FORKS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ND...AT FARGO HECTOR FIELD AND AT GRAND FORKS UNIV NWS... A DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL OF 2.7 INCHES WAS SET AT GRAND FORKS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ND FOR THURSDAY OCTOBER 4. THE OLD RECORD WAS A TRACE SET IN 1952. ALSO A DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL OF 1.4 INCHES WAS SET AT FARGO HECTOR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ND FOR THURSDAY OCTOBER 4. THE OLD RECORD WAS 0.6 INCHES SET IN 1903. A DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL OF 3.5 INCHES WAS SET AT GRAND FORKS UNIV NWS FOR THURSDAY OCTOBER 4. NO SNOWFALL ON RECORD OCCURRED ON OCTOBER 4. ALSO A DAILY RECORD PRECIPITATION OF 0.57 INCHES FELL ON THURSDAY OCTOBER 4 AT THE GRAND FORKS UNIV NWS. THE OLD RECORD WAS 0.55 INCHES SET IN 1913. PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN 1102 AM CDT FRI OCT 5 2012 ...HIGHEST WINDS IN THE PAST 24 HOURS... ...LOCATION... ...TIME... ...WIND... PIER 20 (MARINE ) (608 FT)(MNDOT) 1245 AM OCT 5 58 MPH 13 NE SAND BAY (ASHLAND WI) (MARITIME) 1200 AM OCT 5 56 MPH 1 N KNIFE RIVER (LAKE MN) (APRSWXNET) 327 AM OCT 5 52 MPH GRAND MARAIS (COOK MN) (617 FT)(ASOS) 320 PM OCT 4 51 MPH DULUTH (ST. LOUIS MN) (1427 FT)(ASOS) 524 PM OCT 4 46 MPH 3 SE BAYFIELD (MARINE ) (APRSWXNET) 452 AM OCT 5 46 MPH SILVER BAY MARINA (MARINE ) (GLOS) 240 AM OCT 5 46 MPH SKY HARBOR (ST. LOUIS MN) (AWOS) 434 PM OCT 4 46 MPH PORT WING (MARINE ) (605 FT)(GLOS) 1230 AM OCT 5 45 MPH BUOY 45028 (MARINE ) (624 FT)(MARITIME) 1020 PM OCT 4 45 MPH 1 SSE DULUTH (ST. LOUIS MN) (MNDOT) 405 PM OCT 4 43 MPH 8 S CASTLE DANGER (MARINE ) (MARITIME) 300 PM OCT 4 43 MPH 5 SE BREEZY POINT (CROW WING MN) 103 PM OCT 4 43 MPH 1 ESE DULUTH (MARINE ) (NOS-NWLON) 418 PM OCT 4 42 MPH 3 NW SUPERIOR (DOUGLAS WI) (MNDOT) 415 AM OCT 5 42 MPH 1 W KABETOGAMA (ST. LOUIS MN) (RAWS) 345 PM OCT 4 41 MPH BRAINERD (CROW WING MN) (1224 FT)(ASOS) 407 PM OCT 4 41 MPH 3 W WOODROW (CROW WING MN) (RAWS) 306 PM OCT 4 41 MPH 3 WNW CLAM LAKE (BAYFIELD WI) 401 PM OCT 4 40 MPH LAKE WINNIBIGOSHISH (ITASCA MN) (GOES) 1200 AM OCT 5 40 MPH 3 E SUPERIOR (DOUGLAS WI) (MARITIME) 500 PM OCT 4 40 MPH 6 NNE CATAWBA (PRICE WI) (APRSWXNET) 324 AM OCT 5 40 MPH BAYFIELD (MARINE ) (603 FT)(APRSWXNET) 1227 PM OCT 4 39 MPH 2 SW BREEZY POINT (CROW WING MN) 502 PM OCT 4 38 MPH ASHLAND AIRPORT (ASHLAND WI) (ASOS) 158 PM OCT 4 38 MPH HINCKLEY (PINE MN) (1035 FT)(AWOS) 1015 PM OCT 4 38 MPH 5 E HIBBING (ST. LOUIS MN) (RAWS) 407 PM OCT 4 38 MPH 2 SW PROCTOR (ST. LOUIS MN) (MNDOT) 323 PM OCT 4 37 MPH MOOSE LAKE RAWS (CARLTON MN) (RAWS) 108 PM OCT 4 37 MPH 3 W SCHLEY (CASS MN) (1358 FT)(MNDOT) 139 AM OCT 5 37 MPH CLOQUET (CARLTON MN) (1280 FT)(AWOS) 1156 PM OCT 4 37 MPH SUPERIOR (DOUGLAS WI) (673 FT)(AWOS) 235 PM OCT 4 36 MPH TWO HARBORS (MARINE ) (625 FT)(AWOS) 251 PM OCT 4 36 MPH MOOSE LAKE (CARLTON MN) (1076 FT)(AWOS) 230 PM OCT 4 36 MPH EVELETH (ST. LOUIS MN) (1378 FT)(AWOS) 609 PM OCT 4 36 MPH LONGVILLE (CASS MN) (1335 FT)(AWOS) 316 PM OCT 4 35 MPH HAYWARD RAWS ( ) (RAWS) 310 PM OCT 4 35 MPH 5 S EMILY (CROW WING MN) (MNDOT) 238 PM OCT 4 35 MPH SIREN (BURNETT WI) (988 FT)(AWOS) 335 PM OCT 4 35 MPH 7 E EFFIE (ITASCA MN) (1340 FT)(MNDOT) 142 AM OCT 5 35 MPH GRAND RAPIDS (ITASCA MN) (AWOS) 1115 PM OCT 4 35 MPH 3 S CHISHOLM (ST. LOUIS MN) (MNDOT) 405 PM OCT 4 35 MPH 5 E SEA GULL LAKE (COOK MN) (RAWS) 204 AM OCT 5 35 MPH OBSERVATIONS ARE COLLECTED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES WITH VARYING EQUIPMENT AND EXPOSURES. NOT ALL DATA LISTED IS CONSIDERED OFFICIAL. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE THANKS ITS PRIVATE AND PUBLIC PARTNERS FOR PROVIDING US WITH THIS DATA.
By: Climatology Volunteer Ben Drew and Pete Boulay