Mild Monday, light snow south on Tuesday; blizzard hit Minnesota one year ago

It felt like March, not February, Sunday afternoon. The Sunday high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 44 degrees. That’s 12 degrees warmer than our average Feb. 23 high in the Twin Cities. 44 is our average Twin Cities high on March 21. Some of our snow cover melted this weekend, and patches of grass have already appeared on some south-facing lawns. Temperatures will retreat as we go through the next few days.

Temperature trends

Most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will see highs in the 30s on Monday:

Some spots in the Twin Cities metro area may reach the upper 30s Monday afternoon. Metro area highs are projected to be in the mid 30s on Tuesday, followed by mid 20s Wednesday, lower 20s Thursday and mid 20s on Friday.

Snow chances

I’ll first mention that Minnesota and western Wisconsin may see some areas of fog late Sunday night and early Monday morning.

Southwestern and south-central Minnesota will have the best chance of light snow Tuesday and Tuesday night. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Tuesday and Tuesday evening:

The Twin Cities metro area could see a passing snow shower or flurry Tuesday and Tuesday evening.

You can hear updated weather information on the MPR network, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

A blizzard one year ago

The big news story in Minnesota on the weekend of Feb. 23-24, 2019 was the blizzard that hit southern Minnesota.

Here are some blizzard details that were posted by the Minnesota State Climatology Office:

…heavy snow with lightning, sleet, and even rain entered south-central Minnesota from Iowa, lasting through the evening and into early Sunday morning in some areas. An axis of very heavy snow set up from near Albert Lea, through Rochester and Wabasha, with snowfall rates of 1-2 inches per hour over a period of several hours. The snow was slightly lighter or shorter-lived elsewhere. After 8 PM on Saturday, the winds began increasing within the band of the heaviest snow, and by early Sunday morning, as the low pressure system underwent rapid intensification, the entire state began experiencing very strong winds, with gusts of 40-55 mph common. This led to instant blizzard conditions in open areas across southern and southeastern Minnesota, where the new snow and the abundant existing snow were easily lofted by the intense winds.

The snow and wind led to extraordinary drifting in open areas, with many open-country roads covered with 5 to 8 feet of drifted snow. Images of isolated 15 and 20-drifts flooded social media. The harsh conditions ended up closing virtually all roads in the southern 1/5 of the state. Spunout cars became stranded for over 12 hours across southern and southeastern areas, and Governor Tim Walz declared a State of Emergency in Freeborn and Steele Counties of south-central Minnesota, where National Guard troops and equipment had to be activated to rescue many of the motorists. The St. Cloud State men's hockey team had to be rescued, and ended up sheltering in the Watonwan County Jail, in St. James, MN. On Sunday, even as the snow subsided, the winds continued gusting up to 50 mph, producing whiteout conditions. Some people who had ventured onto area lakes to go ice fishing became surrounded by snow drifts and were stranded.

The Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service posted a lot of info on the blizzard, including this summary:

On Saturday, February 23 and Sunday, February 24 a very powerful winter storm brought whiteout conditions across much of Minnesota and Wisconsin. A narrow band of heavy snow fell from central Iowa, through southeast Minnesota, and up through northern Wisconsin. Several locations within this band saw over a foot of snow (orange shading). Very strong winds developed as the snow was ending Saturday night and these winds continued through Sunday. Many locations had wind gusts of 50 mph or stronger. This led to significant blowing and drifting snow, making travel very difficult or impossible. Most roads in southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin were impassable, and hundreds of motorists became stranded in the blizzard. Portions of Interstate 90 and Interstate 35 were closed for over 24 hours in south central Minnesota.

Here’s the NWS map of snow totals for Feb 23-24, 2019:

The official snow total at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for Feb. 23-24, 2019 was 4.5 inches, and the highest wind gust there was 48 mph. A wind gust of 62 mph was reported on Feb. 24, 2019 at Holman Field Airport in St. Paul.

The La Crosse office of the NWS posted storm details for southeastern Minnesota and Wisconsin here.

Our weather is now much tamer than it was one year ago, and there aren’t any big storms in sight for the next week or so.

I hope that you have a great week!