Winter Storm — Kanabec, Minnesota

2019-11-30 · Kanabec, Minnesota

Event narrative

Several inches of snow fell across Kanabec County, with locally 6 to 8 inches of snow by early Saturday evening, but the storm continued into December 1st and produced a few more inches of snow.

Wider weather episode

A large, and fairly slow moving storm system first developed Friday afternoon November 29th with an area of light snow from the initial surge of warmer air across southern Minnesota. This area of light snow moved across eastern Minnesota, and adjacent western Wisconsin Friday night, with generally one to three inches of snow falling across the region. By Saturday morning, this initial wave of light snow moved north into northeastern Minnesota. A secondary band of precipitation, with some sleet reported with this second band, moved from northern Iowa, across southern Minnesota during the morning. This band produced mainly one inch of snow, with some sleet at times.

During the afternoon, the main storm system moved out into the plains of Nebraska, with an enhanced area of precipitation developing across eastern Minnesota, and western Wisconsin Saturday afternoon, November 30th. Some areas of east central, and central Minnesota had up to 6 inches of snow by late Saturday afternoon, and into the early morning hours of Sunday, December 1st.

The strongest part of the storm system moved across Iowa Saturday evening, and into southern Wisconsin Sunday morning December 1st. The continued strong surge of moisture wrapped around the area of low pressure in Iowa, with the best area of light to moderate snow falling across west central Wisconsin, and over parts of east central and central Minnesota through early Sunday morning.

By late Sunday morning, most of the measurable snowfall had moved off to the Great Lakes region with some flurries and light snow lingering in western Wisconsin Sunday afternoon.

The heaviest snowfall total for the three days, including Dec 1, was 16.9 inches near Browerville in central Todd County. Other totals include 13.2 inches near Alexandria in Douglas County. Mille Lacs County, near Onamia, had 11.0 inches, and Morrison County, near Little Falls, had 10.3 inches.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 858902. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.