Winter Storm — Benton, Minnesota

2021-12-26 to 2021-12-27 · Benton, Minnesota

Event narrative

Several observations across Benton County measured between 5 and 7 inches of snow before it tapered off Monday morning. Some light freezing rain or freezing drizzle also occurred at the end of this event.

Wider weather episode

The afternoon of Sunday, December 26th, a storm system moved across the Rockies, and into the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest by Monday morning. This storm caused a swath of heavy snowfall across central Minnesota between Alexandria, Little Falls, Milaca, and Rush City Sunday evening. The heaviest fell in northern Todd and northern Morrison Counties where locally 12-14 inches of snow fell. Farther to the south, snowfall amounts tapered off to around 4-6 inches from Sauk Centre, St. Cloud, Princeton and Forest Lake. Light snowfall amounts also fell as far south as the Twin Cities and parts of west central Wisconsin. Snowfall was the most intense Sunday evening with numerous locations in central Minnesota receiving 6 or more inches of snow before midnight. Snowfall rates were likely in the 1 to 2 inch per hour range Sunday evening.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 992593. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.