For the first time of the extended 2024-25 winter season, a powerful, fast-hitting winter storm brought heavy snow, fierce winds, and whiteout conditions to parts of Minnesota. Many southern and southeastern Minnesotans went to bed late on Tuesday March 4th with heavy rain falling, or with rain beginning to change to snow, but then woke up on Wednesday March 5th to intense, wind-blown snow piling up 6-12 inches deep.
A strong area of low pressure developed in eastern Colorado on Monday March 3rd, and then intensified from Tuesday into Wednesday as it moved east-northeastward towards Milwaukee and Chicago. As the system moved into the central Plains on Tuesday, warm air and moisture surged into Minnesota, producing a large area of rain that spread northeastward across much of the state, with snow and mixed precipitation falling in parts of central and northern Minnesota.
As the storm system's tightening circulation pulled colder air into the region, precipitation intensified and began changing to snow from west to east. Tuesday evening started out wet across the southeastern half or so of Minnesota, but wet snow quickly overspread much of the area, and by midnight, all precipitation in Minnesota was snow, except in the far southeast. The change to snow coincided with a sharp increase in winds speeds.
The most dramatic transformation occurred during the overnight hours, as the snow reached maximum intensity across southern and southeastern Minnesota and the winds began a prolonged peak that would last into Wednesday afternoon. In the open country of south-central Minnesota, heavy accumulating snow with frequent gusts between 40 and 55 mph reduced visibility dramatically, leading to large snow drifts and whiteouts. Blizzard conditions also affected southwestern Minnesota, where the snowfall intensity was only light to moderate, but where wind gusts were among the strongest in the state. State officials closed sections of interstate 90 and many other state highways across southern and southwestern Minnesota.
In the central and southeastern Twin Cities area, heavy snow falling into wind gusts of 30-45 mph caused brief whiteouts and near-blizzard conditions, along with significant traffic delays. Many drivers, however, simply stayed off area roads until the storm subsided, leaving typically busy streets abnormally quiet on Wednesday morning.
The storm began with a lot of warm air in place, and the center of the parent weather system remained farther southeast than what is common for large, "statewide" winter storm. As a result, southern and eastern Minnesota remained on the northwestern side of the heavy precipitation shield, with much of the precipitation remaining to the south and southeast of the state. The footprint of heavy snow in Minnesota was not particularly large because of the state's location with respect to the storm system.
Nevertheless, precipitation totals of a half-inch or more covered the southeast quarter of Minnesota, including most of the Twin Cities area, New Ulm, Worthington, and all points to the east. Areas south and east of Afton, Burnsville, Mankato, and Fairmont received over an inch of precipitation, with some areas receiving 1.5 inches or more.
All but northwestern Minnesota received measurable snowfall, but totals increased sharply over southern and eastern Minnesota, where accumulations of four inches or more were common. A roughly 75-mile-wide band within that area received six inches or more, and an area from Minneapolis, Waseca and Blue earth, over to Red Wing and Albert Lea received 8-12 inches of snow.
Some precipitation observers from the CoCoRaHS network recorded over a foot of snow, including 14.2 inches at Dennison, 13.1 inches near Rosemount, 12.7 inches near Nerstrand, and 12.5 inches near Lakeville, and Elko New Market. Totals from National Weather Service Cooperative observers included 10 inches at Wells, 9.5 inches at the Twin Cities airport, and 8.3 inches at Jordan.
This storm reduced but did not reverse seasonal snowfall deficits. Even areas hit the hardest remain 30-50% short of seasonal snowfall, and shortages like those or greater are common across Minnesota.
March 6, 2025
KAB