Heavy Snow — Southern Lake, Minnesota

2023-03-11 to 2023-03-12 · Southern Lake, Minnesota

Event narrative

Snowfall totals varied greatly across southern Lake County with only around 2 to 3 inches near Lake Superior to around 18 inches just a few miles away up the terrain ridge. A high report of 18.5 inches was reported about 4 miles west-northwest of Two Harbors.

Wider weather episode

A slow moving area of low pressure brought a long duration snowfall to much of the Northland starting the 11th and continuing into the 12th. Areas near the track of the low received around a foot of snow and then some, especially with terrain influence along the North Shore where upwards of 18 inches of snow were reported. Snowfall was heavy and wet for this event and, when combined with the well above normal snowfall received already this season, a section of the roof at the Miller Hill Mall in Duluth collapsed a few days after the snow. Strong winds off Lake Superior led to blizzard conditions in the Duluth area on the 12th with winds gusting to 56 mph at Sky Harbor airport.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1085521. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.