Winter Storm — Kanabec, Minnesota

2020-01-17 to 2020-01-18 · Kanabec, Minnesota

Event narrative

Snowfall rates of 1/2 inch per hour occurred during the late afternoon and evening of Friday, January 17th. Gusty winds accompany the snowfall and continued through the storm. Freezing drizzle also occurred Friday night. Locally 5 to 6 inches of snow fell on Friday, and early Saturday. Significant blowing and drifting snow occurred on Saturday, especially in open country.

Wider weather episode

A large storm system, which produced heavy snow during the onset, switched over to freezing drizzle, then back to light snow before transitioning to blowing snow and blizzard conditions. The storm started Friday morning, January 17th with a surge of initial deep moisture advecting northward across the Upper Midwest. A dry layer at mid-levels kept the snowfall across southwest, and south central Minnesota before this layer saturated by noon. There was a 3 to 5 hour period of heavy snowfall that produced snowfall rates of 1 inch per hour. A few areas in southwest Minnesota had already received 4 to 6 inches of snow before noon. This area of snow moved northeast and caused heavy snow bands across east central and central Minnesota, as well as west central Wisconsin by the afternoon. As quickly as the snow started, it ended by the late afternoon, and early evening as a dry slot at mid-levels cutoff any ice crystal producing clouds. This dry slot, and the accompany freezing drizzle once the snow ended, caused a layer of ice to form on the snow that fell earlier.

By sunrise, ice crystal producing clouds spread across the Upper Midwest as the main upper storm moved across the area. Periods of light snow fell across the region, but most of the accumulating snowfall had ended. The cold front moved across Minnesota, and into western Wisconsin by noon. Temperatures fell 10 to 20 degrees behind this front along with strong gusty winds developing. These winds created significant blowing and drifting snow in western Wisconsin, especially in open country. The winds slowly abated during the evening, but blowing snow continued.

A strong arctic cold front moved across Minnesota from before sunrise in the far west, to eastern Minnesota by late morning. The front was accompany by light to moderate snow which produced whiteout conditions for an hour.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 865162. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.