Credit: NOAA/National Weather Service
For the second year in a row, mid-April delivered a powerful spring storm to Minnesota over a three-day period, producing an extraordinary variety of inclement weather, with heavy snow, sleet, freezing rain, thunderstorms, and fierce winds reported across the state. An unusual orange-brown tinge to the snow only added to the wide intrigue over this remarkable weather system.
A large, intense, and slow-moving low pressure system took a lazy path between Wednesday April 10th and Friday April 12th, moving from Colorado and Wyoming through Kansas and Nebraska, then lurching almost due north between Omaha and Sioux Falls, before weakening and heading east towards Lake Michigan. The initial intensification of the system enabled it to pull in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, along with cold air from Canada, resulting in multiple waves of wintry precipitation over the course of three days.
Heavy snow with lightning and thunder spread across the southern half of Minnesota on Wednesday afternoon and evening, producing accumulations of 4-8 inches. Winds increased to 20-35 mph, with higher gusts, as a new band of very heavy snow developed late in the night over southern Minnesota and marched northward through the morning. The intense snow and winds led to whiteout conditions in the pre-dawn hours over the Twin Cities, and in the morning and early afternoon over central and especially western Minnesota.
The winds reached peak intensity Thursday morning as widely scattered thunderstorms erupted across southern Minnesota. These storms produced wind-driven waves of heavy sleet and freezing rain, leading to heavy ice coatings in southwestern Minnesota. Some of the strongest storms produced hail, and the National Weather Service in Chanhassen issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning on Thursday morning for Redwood and Renville counties, where 1-inch diameter hailstones were reported in Sacred Heart, Bellview, and Renville.
The winds and precipitation began winding down Thursday afternoon, but scattered precipitation persisted through much of Friday, as the final wave of snow swept eastward across the state.
The winds and icy conditions snapped hundreds of power poles and knocked out power to an estimated 100,000 customers in the region, with up to 30,000 simultaneous outages reported in southern and southwestern Minnesota during the height of the storm.
Precipitation totals of 1-2 inches covered the majority of Minnesota, with isolated areas in western and southwestern Minnesota receiving higher amounts. Over 60% of Minnesota received at least 6 inches of snow, with accumulations ranging from just a trace near the Iowa border, to nearly 20 inches in western Minnesota. In the Twin Cities, the final total of 9.8 inches ranked as the 5th largest April snowstorm on record. In parts of southwestern Minnesota, including Marshall, the double-digit snowfall totals cemented this winter as the snowiest on record.
One other interesting aspect of this storm was the widely observed orange/brown hue in the fallen snow. This phenomenon appeared to have been caused by the parent low pressure system picking up loose dust from New Mexico and Texas, and then using the strong winds to transport it into the region, where it was deposited with the falling snow.
This large storm affected a wide area, prompting three different National Weather Service offices serving Minnesota to produce event summaries. See the reports from the Twin Cities, Sioux Falls, and Aberdeen forecast offices.
Following is a sampling of snowfall reports shared by the National Weather Service in the Twin Cities/Chanhassen. Additional reports can be found in the links provided above. Not all reports are final.
Location Amount Time/Date Provider ...Minnesota... ...Anoka County... 3 NE Ramsey 8.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 1 SE Anoka 6.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 3 NNE Ramsey 6.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 3 N Blaine 5.5 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Benton County... 4 NNE Sartell 5.8 in 0700 AM 04/12 1 NE Rice 4.7 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Blue Earth County... 2 ESE Mankato 9.5 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Brown County... 6 NNW Sveadahl 8.2 in 0619 AM 04/12 1 SW Sleepy Eye 6.0 in 0800 AM 04/12 ...Carver County... Chanhassen NWS 11.4 in 0100 PM 04/12 Official NWS Obs 1 NNW Watertown 11.0 in 0415 AM 04/12 2 WSW Victoria 9.8 in 0700 AM 04/12 1 WSW Carver 8.5 in 0700 AM 04/12 2 WSW Excelsior 7.3 in 0800 AM 04/12 2 N Chaska 7.3 in 0630 AM 04/12 ...Chippewa County... Montevideo 17.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Dakota County... 2 NE Northfield 11.1 in 0700 AM 04/12 2 SW Apple Valley 10.1 in 0700 AM 04/12 2 SE Rosemount 9.5 in 0800 AM 04/12 2 SW Rosemount 9.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 3 WSW Lakeville 8.6 in 0200 AM 04/12 3 SE Apple Valley 8.3 in 0720 AM 04/12 3 N Vermillion 7.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 1 NW Hastings 7.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Douglas County... 1 NNE Carlos 10.0 in 0559 AM 04/12 2 W Carlos 10.0 in 0530 AM 04/12 6 ESE Millerville 6.0 in 0800 AM 04/12 ...Faribault County... 1 WNW Winnebago 3.0 in 0800 AM 04/12 1 S Blue Earth 2.6 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Freeborn County... 3 NNW Glenville 3.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Goodhue County... Cannon Falls 11.6 in 0800 AM 04/12 4 E Nerstrand 9.6 in 0700 AM 04/12 5 NNE Vasa 7.9 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Hennepin County... Minneapolis St. Paul Airport 9.8 in 0700 PM 04/12 Official NWS Obs 1 N Maple Grove 9.5 in 0425 PM 04/11 2 NE Edina 9.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 0.4 NE Minneapolis 8.8 in 0700 AM 04/12 COCORAHS 1 SE Golden Valley 8.4 in 0700 AM 04/12 3 SSE Edina 8.1 in 0700 AM 04/12 2 NNW Osseo 7.5 in 0800 AM 04/12 2 SW Champlin 7.2 in 0700 AM 04/12 3 WSW Long Lake 7.0 in 0745 AM 04/12 2 ESE Eden Prairie 6.8 in 0905 AM 04/12 1 NE Maple Grove 6.5 in 0730 AM 04/12 2 SW Fridley 6.3 in 0700 AM 04/12 Robbinsdale 6.2 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Kanabec County... 1 WNW Mora 3.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Kandiyohi County... 8 SE Sunburg 9.1 in 0700 AM 04/12 5 N Willmar 7.8 in 0700 AM 04/12 4 WSW Spicer 6.0 in 0830 AM 04/12 ...Lac qui Parle County... Madison 20.0 in 0900 AM 04/12 ...Le Sueur County... 1 S New Prague 12.5 in 0700 AM 04/12 6 NNW Le Center 9.0 in 0800 AM 04/12 ...Martin County... 1 ESE Fairmont 1.1 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...McLeod County... 1 ESE Brownton 14.0 in 0800 AM 04/12 Glencoe 9.5 in 0800 AM 04/12 1 W Hutchinson 8.3 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Meeker County... 1 W Dassel 11.1 in 0700 AM 04/12 3 WSW Watkin 8.8 in 0900 AM 04/12 COCORAHS ...Mille Lacs County... 2 NW Foreston 5.0 in 0114 PM 04/12 Onamia 4.7 in 0700 AM 04/12 2 SE Milaca 4.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 1 SSW Milaca 4.0 in 0730 AM 04/12 ...Morrison County... 1 SW Little Falls 10.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 5 E Camp Ripley 6.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 7 N Camp Ripley 5.9 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Nicollet County... 3 ESE New Ulm 9.2 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Ramsey County... 1 NW North St. Paul 9.8 in 0700 AM 04/12 1 SSE Roseville 9.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 Falcon Heights 8.2 in 0800 AM 04/12 1 N North St. Paul 8.0 in 0456 PM 04/11 ...Redwood County... Belview 9.1 in 0655 AM 04/12 1 NE Redwood Falls 8.8 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Renville County... 7 SSE Bird Island 13.1 in 0700 AM 04/12 Bird Island 11.5 in 0650 AM 04/12 2 WNW Danube 8.5 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Rice County... 1 N Faribault 7.5 in 0700 AM 04/12 3 ENE Montgomery 7.0 in 0500 AM 04/12 1 WNW Veseli 7.0 in 0500 AM 04/12 ...Sherburne County... St. Cloud Airport 8.3 in 0100 PM 04/12 Official NWS Obs 6 E St. Cloud 7.3 in 0700 AM 04/12 3 SE Orrock 6.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Sibley County... 2 WNW Green Isle 13.5 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Stearns County... 7 SE Pleasant Lake 10.0 in 0135 PM 04/12 7 W Clearwater 10.0 in 1140 AM 04/12 5 S St. Cloud 10.0 in 1009 AM 04/12 7 SE Pleasant Lake 9.5 in 0940 AM 04/12 7 SE Pleasant Lake 9.0 in 0604 PM 04/11 Melrose 8.5 in 0700 AM 04/12 Kimball 8.3 in 1151 AM 04/12 2 SSW Paynesville 8.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 2 NE Waite Park 7.1 in 0100 AM 04/12 Kimball 6.0 in 0606 AM 04/12 1 SSE Sartell 5.9 in 0700 AM 04/12 2 SSW Paynesville 5.5 in 0700 AM 04/12 4 S St. Stephen 5.0 in 0900 AM 04/12 ...Steele County... Ellendale 7.4 in 0700 AM 04/12 1 ENE Owatonna 7.0 in 0630 AM 04/12 1 NNW Owatonna 5.0 in 0800 AM 04/12 ...Stevens County... 3 NW Donnelly 12.9 in 0700 AM 04/12 2 E Morris 11.0 in 0800 AM 04/12 ...Swift County... 7 N Holloway 12.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 1 WNW Benson 10.6 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Todd County... 1 N Hewitt 7.1 in 0800 AM 04/12 1 WSW Long Prairie 5.5 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Waseca County... 1 NE Waseca 6.8 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Wright County... 2 WNW Hanover 13.5 in 0800 AM 04/12 1 E St. Michael 8.1 in 0630 AM 04/12 Buffalo 6.8 in 0342 PM 04/11 5 NNE Maple Lake 6.7 in 0440 PM 04/11 Rockford 6.6 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Yellow Medicine County... Canby 17.0 in 0800 AM 04/12 COOP Granite Falls 13.0 in 0630 PM 04/11 ...Wisconsin... ...Barron County... Cumberland 5.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 2 SE Chetek 4.5 in 0700 AM 04/12 1 NW Cameron 4.5 in 0800 AM 04/12 Haugen 4.0 in 1152 AM 04/12 ...Chippewa County... 1 ESE Chippewa Falls 11.5 in 0700 AM 04/12 1 S Chippewa Falls 10.3 in 0700 AM 04/12 7 NE Tilden 8.3 in 0630 AM 04/12 4 NNE Cornell 6.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Dunn County... Menomonie 9.5 in 0700 AM 04/12 3 SSW Wheeler 8.1 in 0630 AM 04/12 Elk Mound 8.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Eau Claire County... Eau Claire 11.4 in 0700 PM 04/12 ...Pepin County... 1 SW Durand 7.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Pierce County... 1 SW River Falls 9.0 in 0730 AM 04/12 1 E Ellsworth 9.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 3 SE River Falls 8.0 in 0630 PM 04/11 1 S River Falls 7.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Polk County... 1 WSW Luck 5.5 in 0700 AM 04/12 3 E Nye 4.2 in 0800 AM 04/12 5 SSE Balsam Lake 4.0 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...Rusk County... 3 WNW Ladysmith 4.9 in 0700 AM 04/12 2 ESE Bruce 3.6 in 0700 AM 04/12 ...St. Croix County... 1 WSW Baldwin 9.5 in 0700 AM 04/12 1 SSW Roberts 5.7 in 0800 AM 04/12 Observations are collected from a variety of sources with varying equipment and exposures. We thank all volunteer weather observers for their dedication. Not all data listed are considered official.