By Norma Dittman
Review Staff Writerr
Snow, snow, snow and more snow has been a topic of many discussions throughout the month of February. And with good cause. The snowfall of Wednesday, February 20th made a huge impact on snowfall records throughout the Midwest.
Monthly totals were recorded as follows:
• Worthington, MN – 30.7” (normal snowfall – 7.4”)
• Marshall, MN – 32.0” – (normal snowfall – 8.5”)
• Sioux Falls, SD – 17.3” – (record snowfall in 1962 of 48.4”)
• Brookings, SD – 15.5”
• Flandreau, SD – 26.2”
• Sheldon, IA – 21.9”
These totals were shared by KSFY’s meteorologist Sam Gabrielli on Thursday over the KSFY Facebook page.
Here’s how the wintry month of February has been, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
• February 3 & 4: “In southern and eastern parts of the state, warm air aloft melted the falling snow into raindrops, which then froze into a glaze on streets and sidewalks, leading to hundreds of accidents, spinouts, and stuck vehicles.
• February 5: “Heavy snow spread over much of southern Minnesota, creating major traffic problems for the second day in a row. One particularly intense and persistent band of snow set up in the vicinity of Marshall, Minnesota, where accumulations reached 7-9 inches. The heavy snow led to some early releases from schools.”
• February 6: “An extremely active mid-winter pattern dealt another blow to Minnesota, with heavy snow, gusty winds, white-out conditions in open country, falling temperatures, and dangerous wind chills.”
The systems described above swung from southern Colorado into northern Texas on Wednesday, February 6th.
Minnesota DNR’s Climate Journal stated the following about this day’s storm, “This system had a sprawling circulation, and was fueled by powerful jet stream winds in excess of 150 miles per hour. “
The blizzard caused isolated thunderstorms with sleet and snow in southern Minnesota. The snow blew across the state in three shifts, followed by winds in excess of 40 miles per hour in the open areas. By Thursday afternoon, February 7th, the National Weather Service had issued blizzard warnings for 34 counties in Minnesota. Along with the strong winds came quickly falling temperatures, which produced wind chills of -20 to -40 degrees.
Sunday, February 10th was another storm that dropped six inches of snow in southern Minnesota. It was during this storm that state authorities reported 400 vehicle accidents, and nearly 400 spinouts.
The snow continued on February 11th and 12th, as another system came out of the east
From January 18th through February 11th, weather stations across the state received 15-25 inches of snow. Some areas had even higher measurements. The Worthington area measured accumulations of 3-6 inches. Even school students were now saying, “Enough, already!”
The snows of February resumed as the sixth heavy snowfall of the month broke many weather records across the state.
Minnesota DNR Climate Journal stated, “A surface low pressure system, supported by very strong winds aloft, tracked from Texas into the Upper Mississippi River Valley on Wednesday, February 20th. The main ingredients working in favor of heavy snowfall production were 1) cold air already in place, and 2) a strong surge of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. As the moisture surged into the region ahead of the low pressure system, heavy snow developed rapidly, advancing from south to north within a period of about 18 hours.”
Falling snow began in the southern portion of Minnesota at about midnight and had reached the Twin Cities and St. Cloud between 3 and 5 a.m. and then Braindery by 6 a.m. and Duluth after 8 a.m.
In southwest Minnesota, reports of 6 to 10 inches of new snow were stated.
To date, Monday, February 25, all of these winter events, mid-January into February, have caused nine days of no school, six late starts, and one early release at Fulda Public Schools.
The dates of no school have been January 18, 28, 29, and 30 and February 7, 8, 12, 20 and 25. Late starts have been January 22, 24, 21, and February 4, 13, and 19. The early release date was Valentines Day.
The forecast for the weekend of February 23 and 24th was: More snow, followed by strong winds which may result in blizzard conditions in parts of Minnesota and Iowa. And the National Weather Service says “Stay Tuned!”
As promised by the National Weather Service, a blizzard that brought with it wind gusts of 40 to 45 miles per hour caused many roads in Minnesota and South Dakota to be closed due to low visibility, white-out conditions, snow drifts and ice. Some of the roads that were closed in our immediate area were US Highway 59, Highways 60 and 62, 91, and 30, as well as I-90 both east and west of Worthington.
When the winds, which had begun around 6 p.m. on Saturday and continued until 6:30 p.m. Sunday, subsided, the temperatures dropped into single digits and into the teens below zero. Wind chills were a negative 15 to 30 degrees below zero.
