The inaugural winter storm of the 2025-26 winter struck right before the Thanksgiving holiday, with the first measurable snow for the season for many locations in central and southern Minnesota. An intensifying low pressure system moved roughly west to east across Minnesota on Tuesday November 25, and by Wednesday morning November 26 the low was over upper Michigan. Winter Storm Warnings were posted for a large area of central and south-central Minnesota, with blizzard warnings over pars of the west.
The storm began with mild air, rain, and dense fog over southern and central Minnesota on the 25th, changing over to snow in the afternoon and evening. A pile-up involving about a dozen large trucks and semi-trailers stopped traffic during the afternoon on westbound I-94 in Clay County, east of Moorhead. Thankfully, there were no life-threatening injuries. Officials reported over three hundred crashes across the state and over four hundred spinouts reported by the state patrol during the storm.
A wide swath of 4-8 inches fell in a line from Wheaton in Traverse County to Duluth, with 2-5 inches on either side of this band in northern and central Minnesota. Most of the state except for the far northwest reported measurable snow.
The highest total reported in Minnesota was 10.3 inches at the Duluth International Airport. Amounts up to a foot were reported in northwest Wisconsin, inland from Lake Superior. The Twin Cities reported 3.1 inches by 6am Wednesday November 26. Some of the peak wind gusts on November 25th include: 44mph at St. Cloud, 47 mph at the Twin Cities, 49 mph at Fargo, 51mph at Worthington at 7pm on the 25th, 52mph at Jackson, and a gust of 56mph at Tracy both at 8pm on the 25th.
November 28, 2025
PJB/KAB