Winter Storm — Washington, Minnesota

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

Event narrative

Multiple bands of snow moved through and produced 4 to 7 inches of snowfall across the northern portion of the county. Much of the southern half of the county measured 2 inches or less. The highest report was 7.3 inches near Forest Lake, 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 1231785. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.