Winter Weather — Big Stone, Minnesota

2023-04-04 to 2023-04-05 · Big Stone, Minnesota

Wider weather episode

A strong low pressure system developed across the western Great Plains and strengthened as it tracked northeast into Iowa on the afternoon of April 4th and into northeastern Minnesota by noon on April 5th. This system produced accumulating snow across west central Minnesota on April 4th, and then strong west-northwest wind gusts between 30 and 45 mph on April 5th. The result was significantly reduced visibilities at times. Ditches were full of snow from this and previous snowfall events, which allowed for significant drifts to develop on roadways as well.

Many US and state highways were either closed or under no travel advised statements from the Department of Transportation. Business and school closures resulted, and there were several reports of power outages. Following this storm, many locations had observed a top-10 winter season for total snowfall across the region. All the snow and much below average temperatures to start April set the stage for significant spring flooding.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1092874. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.