Winter Weather — Benton, Minnesota

2025-02-07 to 2025-02-08 · Benton, Minnesota

Event narrative

An estimated 4 to 5.5 inches of snowfall was measured across the county. The highest snowfall observation was 5.0 inches near Rice, MN.

Wider weather episode

The Upper Midwest was sandwiched between an advancing arctic high from the north and a deepening surface low to the south, creating a prime environment for frontogenetic forcing across central MN (just north of the Twin Cities) into western WI.

A narrow band of moderate to heavy snow extending from Alexandria-Cambridge-New Richmond, WI dropped 1-2 inches on February 7 before a wider swath of light to moderate snow fell from the evening of February 7 to the morning of February 8. Dry air entrainment extended up to the Twin Cities metro, which led to lesser snow totals south of I-94. The end result was a band of 5-8 across north-central MN into western WI, a swath of 3-5' of snow across central Minnesota and 1-3' in southern MN.

Some of the highest snowfall amounts were:

8.0 inches in Ham Lake, MN (Anoka).

8.0 inches in Andover, MN (Anoka).

7.3 inches in Forest Lake, MN (Washington).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1231751. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.