Snow and Freezing Rain: January 2-3, 2017

Icy roads created headaches in the northern Twin Cities, while heavy snow fell in far northern Minnesota.

On January 2-3, 2017 a large sprawled-out storm system brought heavy snow to northern Minnesota, and a wintry mix of light precipitation to central and southern Minnesota. Light rain, drizzle and a few snowflakes fell across the Twin Cities with roads becoming glazed in the evening of January 2nd with no travel advised for a time between Rogers and Clearwater on 1-94. There were 100 crashes reported in the metro area between 7pm and 10pm on the 2nd. The freezing rain and drizzle only amounted to a hundredth of an inch or so, but was enough to create a light coating of ice on roads.

On January 3, a weak area of low pressure moved from southwest Minnesota in the early hours to near Duluth by 9am and to Thunder Bay by noon. In northern Minnesota, snow and strong winds continued through the morning of the 3rd with falling temperatures to zero and blowing snow causing MNDOT to post "No Travel Advised" over northwest Minnesota on the morning of January 3. The highest snow total found so far is 13 inches at Warroad in Roseau County and 13 inches at Baudette in Lake of the Woods County.

Below is a list of snowfall reports gathered by the National Weather Service

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
1042 AM CST TUE JAN 03 2017

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       HOLT                    48.29N 96.19W
01/03/2017  M13.0 INCH       MARSHALL           MN   PUBLIC

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       ROSEAU                  48.85N 95.76W
01/03/2017  E13.0 INCH       ROSEAU             MN   PUBLIC

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       8 SW ERSKINE            47.58N 96.14W
01/03/2017  M4.7 INCH        POLK               MN   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       2 N MOORHEAD            46.89N 96.76W
01/03/2017  M8.6 INCH        CLAY               MN   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     SNOW             2 WSW DEER CREEK        46.38N 95.36W
01/03/2017  M4.6 INCH        OTTER TAIL         MN   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       6 N PELICAN RAPIDS      46.66N 96.09W
01/03/2017  M7.2 INCH        OTTER TAIL         MN   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       2 WSW MENAHGA           46.74N 95.14W
01/03/2017  M6.0 INCH        WADENA             MN   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     SNOW             5 NW DENT               46.60N 95.79W
01/03/2017  M5.9 INCH        OTTER TAIL         MN   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       MCINTOSH                47.64N 95.89W
01/03/2017  M10.0 INCH       POLK               MN   PUBLIC

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       HANNAFORD               47.31N 98.19W
01/03/2017  M9.0 INCH        GRIGGS             ND   PUBLIC

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       5 SW GRAND FORKS        47.87N 97.15W
01/03/2017  M8.5 INCH        GRAND FORKS        ND   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       5 WNW HOPE              47.35N 97.82W
01/03/2017  M7.1 INCH        STEELE             ND   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       5 WNW DURBIN            46.84N 97.25W
01/03/2017  M10.4 INCH       CASS               ND   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       3 NE FARGO              46.91N 96.77W
01/03/2017  M8.1 INCH        CASS               ND   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       SSE FARGO               46.88N 96.82W
01/03/2017  M9.5 INCH        CASS               ND   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       ABERCROMBIE             46.45N 96.73W
01/03/2017  M5.8 INCH        RICHLAND           ND   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       LISBON                  46.44N 97.68W
01/03/2017  M8.0 INCH        RANSOM             ND   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       CROOKSTON               47.77N 96.61W
01/03/2017  M10.0 INCH       POLK               MN   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       7 SW GOODRIDGE          48.07N 95.91W
01/03/2017  M8.9 INCH        PENNINGTON         MN   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     HEAVY SNOW       7 WNW WARREN            48.23N 96.91W
01/03/2017  M6.0 INCH        MARSHALL           MN   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     SNOW             KARLSTAD                48.58N 96.52W
01/03/2017  M4.3 INCH        KITTSON            MN   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     SNOW             6 S LAKE PARK           46.80N 96.10W
01/03/2017  M5.0 INCH        BECKER             MN   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

0800 AM     SNOW             4 E TURTLE RIVER        47.59N 94.67W
01/03/2017  E5.2 INCH        BELTRAMI           MN   COCORAHS

            STORM TOTAL

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
850 AM CST TUE JAN 03 2017

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0816 AM     HEAVY SNOW       WINTON                  47.93N 91.80W
01/03/2017  M6.1 INCH        ST. LOUIS          MN   PUBLIC

            STORM TOTAL.

0820 AM     SNOW             BENNETT                 46.45N 91.85W
01/03/2017  E1.0 INCH        DOUGLAS            WI   PUBLIC

            STORM TOTAL.

0836 AM     HEAVY SNOW       3 NE TOFTE              47.59N 90.84W
01/03/2017  E6.0 INCH        COOK               MN   PUBLIC

            STORM TOTAL. AN ADDITIONAL 3 INCHES HAD FELL LAST
            NIGHT...ADDING UP TO THE 6 INCHES.

0836 AM     SNOW             E SUPERIOR              46.70N 92.06W
01/03/2017  E1.0 INCH        DOUGLAS            WI   PUBLIC

            IN EAST END SUPERIOR.

0841 AM     SNOW             1 W PARK FALLS          45.93N 90.47W
01/03/2017  E1.0 INCH        PRICE              WI   TRAINED SPOTTER