Weekend storm will ease snow drought up north

Much of Minnesota is lagging behind average snow cover for early December.

Trails in the snow
Footprints create two trails in the snow on the campus of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn.
Ann Arbor Miller | MPR News 2015

There’s a snow drought over most of Minnesota as we head into winter. And this weekend’s forecast snow event across northern Minnesota will likely help ease that deficit.

Snowfall projection
Snowfall projection by Monday.
NOAA

Most of Minnesota is running well behind average snowfall and snow cover for the first week of December and is still snow-free with bare ground.

Here’s a look at Friday’s snow cover across the U.S. Note how little snow covers the Rocky Mountains today.

Snow depth on December 3
Snow depth on December 3.
NOAA/NOHRSC

Here’s a look at the average snow cover for Dec. 3.

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Average snow depth for December 3
Average snow depth for December 3.
NOAA

You can see that much of Minnesota is running anywhere from a few inches to more than a foot below average for snow cover for this first week in December.

Here are some select seasonal snowfall totals vs. average in Minnesota.

Location/Snowfall so far/Average

  • Twin Cities 1.2/8.7 inches

  • St. Cloud 2.1”/8.8 inches

  • Rochester 0.6”/6.4 inches

  • Duluth 6.6”/18.6 inches

  • International Falls 9.5”/15.3 inches

  • Fargo/Moorhead 4.3”/9.0 inches

The 5 to 10+ inches of snow up north this weekend should help bring most locations to near-average snowfall for the season.