Winter Weather — Stevens, Minnesota

2023-04-04 · Stevens, Minnesota

Event narrative

Approximately 0.5 to 3 inches of snow fell across the county. The highest observations occurred in northern Steven's county. A CoCoRaHS observer 10 miles northwest of Morris measured 3.3 inches of snow and a light glaze of ice accumulation.

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 1088561. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.