Winter Weather — Douglas, Minnesota

2023-04-04 · Douglas, Minnesota

Event narrative

An inch and half to two inches of snow fell across the county. A CoCoRaHS observer reported just north of Alexandria that 1.8 inches of snow accumulated as well as 0.25 inches of icing occurred in the 24-hour period.

Wider weather episode

A strengthening complex weather system was forecasted to impact a majority of Central and Southern Minnesota with multiple types of precipitation. As for Western Minnesota, snowfall would eventually transition into a mix of sleet and freezing rain. Winds were forecasted to be gusty which elevated the risk of blowing snow across exposed flat areas and ice accumulations. Winter storm warnings were issued for parts of extreme Western Minnesota.

Ultimately, the highest snow total remained just outside of our forecast area due to dry slotting occurring aloft. This allowed Western MN to see a reduction in the number of available dendrites to develop snow. However farther west of the dry slot into Eastern portions of the Dakotas, 8-13 inches of snowfall. The gradient of significant snowfall was very defined in Northwestern Minnesota. Otter Tail County, MN received 4-8 inches whereas Stevens to Todd Counties received a dusting to 3 inches.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1088560. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.