For the fifth week in a row, a precipitating weather system centered itself on Wednesday, with snows in northern Minnesota and rains in the south. This particular system produced rather heavy precipitation, although over a relatively short duration.
The precipitation formed and intensified as a cold front associated with Canadian low pressure advanced eastward across Minnesota. Rain developed in western Minnesota during the morning, spreading eastward towards St. Cloud just before noon, and to the Twin Cities in the early afternoon. Wet snow spread across northern Minnesota during this same time. Moderate rain, with rates of up to a third of an inch per hour, fell across most of central and southern Minnesota. Heavy rain fell briefly at many stations as well. International Falls reported heavy snow with visibility below 1/4 mile at two separate hourly observations, and many stations in the northern third of the state reported wet accumulating snow with visibility below one mile. The heaviest snow fell over far northeastern Minnesota during the late afternoon and evening.
Precipitation totals were generally between a quarter and three-quarters of an inch, with only parts of far northwestern and far southwestern Minnesota seeing little or no precipitation. The highest confirmed total was 0.89 inches at the Orwell Dam in Otter Tail County. Snowfall totals ranged from 1 to 5 inches from the the Minnesota Arrowhead, westward towards Roseau and Thief River Falls, and the south to Fergus Falls. A CoCoRaHS observer east of Bemidji reported 5.5 inches of snow, and a NWS Cooperative observer near Indus (on the Canadian border) reported 5.1 inches.
Modified: April 22, 2022