Heavy Snow — North Clearwater, Minnesota

2018-12-26 to 2018-12-28 · North Clearwater, Minnesota

Wider weather episode

A Colorado Low moved out into the Central Plains in several pieces. As the event began on the afternoon of the 26th, temperatures ranged from 10 to 20 degrees, with east winds of 5 to 15 mph. The first wave of snow spread over the area that afternoon and night, dropping 2 to 6 inches of snow. By the morning of the 27th, a strong thermal gradient set up from northwest to southeast, with Langdon around 10 degrees and Fergus Falls around 30 degrees. Winds had switched to the north, and quickly increased. Snow continued to fall, but mainly south of a line from Valley City to Hillsboro to Fosston to Waskish. Temperatures continued to fall on the 27th, and by 3 am CST on the 28th, they ranged from 4 below zero at Langdon to 12 at Park Rapids. Peak wind speeds on the 27th and 28th ranged from 20 to 40 mph. The most snow fell south of the Highway 2 corridor, where Detroit Lakes had 8.8 inches and Battle Lake and Sebeka had 13.0 inches.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 798479. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.