Heavy Snow in Minnesota, April 15 to 16, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in Minnesota, April 15 to 16, 2001
Start: 2001-04-15T20:30
End: 2001-04-16T09:20
Location: Minnesota

April 15 to 16, 2001 · NWS DLH · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

A late season winter storm dropped 6 to 9 inches of snow on parts of north central Minnesota. Lake Kabetogama reported 9 inches, 8 inches fell at Tower, and Little Fork and Babbitt had 6 inches each.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS DLH wrote it up.

A late season winter storm dropped 6 to 9 inches of snow on parts of north central Minnesota. Lake Kabetogama reported 9 inches, 8 inches fell at Tower, and Little Fork and Babbitt had 6 inches each.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Duluth, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 15, 1:30 PM CST, 7 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 15, 1:30 PM CST, 7 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
230 PM CDT SUN APR 15 2001

FORECAST PROBLEM IS PRECIP DURATION AND TIMING AS WELL AS TEMPS.

CLOSED UPR CIRCULATION ALONG THE CAN/MN BDR IS MOVG SEWD. AN AREA OF
STRONG DIVERGENCE DENOTED BY THE MOTION OF THE PRECIP ELEMENTS ON
THE 88D ON THE SERN SIDE OF THE CIRCULATION CREATED A SNOW BURST IN
THAT AREA THIS AFTN. THAT IS ONE SPOKE OF ENERGY, BUT THERE ARE
OTHTER SUCH SPOKES ROTATING ARND THE LOW AND WILL BE THE BASIS FOR
SUBSEQUENT SNOW SHOWER EPISODES. BEHIND IT, TO THE WEST, CLOUDS ARE
BREAKING OPEN WHICH WOULD INDICATE THE SINKING PORTION OF THAT
FEATURE.

SNOW WILL LET UP FOR AWHILE BUT BEGIN AGAIN LATER AS OTHER VORT AND
COLD POCKET FEATURES ROTATE THRU. WORDING WILL HAVE TO REFLECT THAT.

GDNC PACKAGES ARE WELL IN SYNCH ON THE FEATURES NOW, BUT THE ETA
ONCE AGAIN HAS A BETTER NEAR TERM FIT. WE WILL USE THE ETA FOR OUR
FCST. THE TEMP GDNC WILL BE A COMPROMISE BETWEEN THE FWC AND MAV.

.DLH...NONE.
CS

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Koochiching

When: April 15, 8:30 PM CST to April 16, 9:20 AM CST
Where: Koochiching forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 48.245, -93.783 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern St. Louis

When: April 15, 8:30 PM CST to April 16, 9:20 AM CST
Where: Northern St. Louis forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 47.590, -92.461 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Central St. Louis

When: April 15, 8:30 PM CST to April 16, 9:20 AM CST
Where: Central St. Louis forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 47.590, -92.461 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Minnesota in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, April 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5239470, 5239471, 5239472.