Blizzard — Mitchell, Iowa

2025-03-19 · Mitchell, Iowa

Event narrative

The combination of falling snow and strong winds allowed for visibilities to drop to a quarter mile or less resulting in blizzard conditions on March 19th in Mitchell County. Snowfall totals across the county ranged from 3 to 5 inches with a highest reported total of 4.6 inches in St. Ansgar.

Wider weather episode

A compact but strong winter system moved through portions of the Upper Midwest on March 19th bringing heavy snow, strong wind gusts, and even thundersnow. While snow mixed in with sleet and rain at times, eventually some colder air aloft moved into the region and switched precipitation to all snow with some locally heavy rates. Additionally, the combination of strong winds and snow led to blizzard conditions in portions of northeast Iowa where wind gusts over 50 mph occurred in some locations.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1247504. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.