Winter Storm — Mille Lacs, Minnesota

2022-02-21 to 2022-02-22 · Mille Lacs, Minnesota

Event narrative

Light snow began across Mille Lacs County early Monday morning, February 21st. Heavier snow fell between 6 AM and noon. Locally, 4 to 6 inches fell near Mille Lacs Lake by the mid-afternoon before tapering off to flurries. However, additional snow fell Tuesday, and snowfall totals by the time the snow tapered off Tuesday evening ranged from 6 to 12 inches, with the heaviest near the lake.

Wider weather episode

The evening of Sunday, February 20th, a large Arctic ridge of high pressure built southward across the Upper Midwest. Brisk north/northeasterly surface winds were across the Upper Midwest with an increasing area of (850-700 MB) low-level forcing preceding an upper trough over the northern Rockies. These two elements aided in the development of a narrow band of moderate to heavy snowfall that was first centered along the North Dakota, South Dakota border Sunday evening. Regional radar that evening showed an enhanced area of higher reflectivity that slowly spread eastward across central Minnesota late Sunday night, and into Monday morning before lifting northeast over the arrowhead of Minnesota.

Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour were noted over central Minnesota early Monday morning as modest forcing within the dendritic growth layer supported these type of rates. By Monday afternoon, most of the snowfall tapered off to flurries or light snow will little additional accumulation until Monday night.

A secondary wave developed across the central plains late Monday night. It was much

stronger than the previous wave and had more moisture surging northward into the system. Another area of light snow that affected central Minnesota Tuesday morning was broader but less intense. Although additional snow fell during this time period, the heaviest occurred during the first wave late Sunday night, and into Monday morning.

Total snowfall amounts by Tuesday evening, led to a broad area of 6 to 14 inches of snow that fell from Morris, east-northeast to Sauk Centre, Rice, Princeton, and Rush City northward. Some of the highest totals occurred over Todd County where locally 14.3 inches fell near Bertha.

Some of the higher totals include:

Bertha in Todd County 14.3 inches.

South of Mora in Kanabec County 14.0 inches.

Clarissa in Todd County 14.0 inches.

Little Falls in Morrison County 13.0 inches.

North of Flensburg in Morrison County 13.0 inches.

Morris in Stevens County 12.4 inches.

Donnelly in Stevens County 10.5 inches.

West of Mora in Kanabec County 12.1 inches.

East of Motley in Morrison County 11.9 inches.

Long Prairie in Todd County 10.4 inches.

Isle in Mille Lacs County 9.1 inches.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1007576. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.