Image credit: Minnesota DNR State Climatology Office
With a wintry blast early in the morning on Thursday April 20, Duluth received two inches of snow, breaking its all-time seasonal snowfall record. Additional snow since then has raised the season total to With 139 inches (and counting), the 2022-23 winter has surpassed the 135.4 inches to secure the top spot.
Indeed, the winter of 2022-23 has been one of the snowiest on record across much of Minnesota. In addition to Duluth's new record, St. Cloud was ranked 2nd all-time with 86.6 inches (through April 20), and the Twin Cities had 90.3 inches, putting it in third place. These stations all have over 100 years of consistent snowfall records. Rochester was ranked #12 with 63.3 inches, and Minnesota's other "first-order" station at International Falls was slightly above normal for the date, at 76.1 inches, but not (yet) in significant or extreme territory.
The vast majority of the state has been above-normal for snowfall, with the only exceptions in the extreme south. The National Weather Service Cooperative observer at the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center had reported 153 inches, and the Cooperative observer 7 miles northwest of Two Harbors was close behind with 147.8 inches. The official state record for seasonal snowfall is 170.5 inches, from the Pigeon River Bridge near Grand Portage during the 1949-50 season.
Image credit: Minnesota DNR State Climatology Office
This snow season has been marked by frequent and often large winter storms. Although most parts of the state have had "breaks in the action" lasting two weeks or more at times, in general, Minnesota has had a steady diet of accumulating winter storms since mid-November. The snowstorm and snowfall production has been so consistent that for the first time in its history (back to the winter of 1884-85), the Twin Cities recorded five straight months, (November through March) with snowfall of 10 inches or more. The persistent, heavy snowfall, led to a long period with continuous snow cover, ranking 9th longest on record in the Twin Cities.
Precipitation has been quite high during this snowy winter as well. In Duluth, the period November 1 through April 2 has been the wettest on record, and the Rochester, St. Cloud, and the Twin Cities were all #3 or #2 all-time for the same period.
Below are rankings for seasonal snowfall at Duluth, and seasonal snowfall and consecutive days with at least an inch of snow cover in the Twin Cities.
Ranking of the Season Snowfall from 1886 to 2023 Duluth Rank Year Value ---------------------- 1. 2022-2023 138.3* 2. 1995-1996 135.4 3. 1949-1950 131.8 4. 2013-2014 131.0 5. 2012-2013 129.4 6. 1996-1997 128.2 7. 1968-1969 121.0 8. 1988-1989 119.1 9. 1970-1971 116.9 10. 1964-1965 110.9 *preliminary, as of April 20, 2023 Ranking of Season Snowfall from 1885 to 2023 Minneapolis-St Paul Rank Year Value ---------------------- 1. 1983-1984 98.6 2. 1981-1982 95.0 3. 2022-2023 90.3* 4. 1950-1951 88.9 5. 2010-2011 86.6 6. 1916-1917 84.9 7. 1991-1992 84.1 8. 1961-1962 81.3 9. 1951-1952 79.0 10. 1966-1967 78.4 *as of April 19, 2023 Twin Cities Continuous Snow Cover of 1 inch or more Rank Time Period No. of Days ----------------------------------- 1.) 1964-11-26 to 1965-04-10 136 2.) 1950-11-22 to 1951-04-04 134 3.) 1981-11-19 to 1982-03-28 130 4.) 1978-11-17 to 1979-03-22 126 5.) 1985-11-22 to 1986-03-24 123 6.) 1996-11-20 to 1997-03-21 122 7.) 2000-12-07 to 2001-04-04 119 8.) 1971-11-23 to 1972-03-18 117 9.) 2022-11-30 to 2023-03-25 116* 10.) 1955-11-28 to 1956-03-21 115 11.) 1952-11-25 to 1953-03-18 114 12.) 2013-12-04 to 2014-03-26 113 *final tally
Updated April 20, 2023