Heavy Snow in Minnesota, April 23, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in Minnesota, April 23, 2001
Start: 2001-04-23T03:00
End: 2001-04-23T11:00
Location: Minnesota

April 23, 2001 · NWS FGF · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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: 7

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 FGF wrote it up.

A strong low pressure system tracked from Colorado into Wisconsin, and wrapped bands of heavy snow across portions of northwest Minnesota. At its heaviest point, some locations reported snowfall rates of several inches per hour from the huge wet flakes. 6 to 12 inches of snow fell across the area, with Bemidji and Park Rapids both reporting 12 inch amounts. Due to the slushy nature of the snow, secondary roads became very slippery. Many cars slid off the roads and several schools closed for the day. 1200 customers lost power in the Bemidji area as pine trees fell on several power lines.

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 Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 23, 2:25 AM CST, 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 23, 2:25 AM CST, 35 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
325 AM CDT MON APR 23 2001

FORECAST CHALLENGE FOR TODAY IS PCPN. CURRENT IR SATELLITE IMAGERY
SHOWS COOLING CLOUD TOPS MOVING INTO S CWFA. KMVX HAS INCREASING
AREA OF ECHOS COVERING S CWFA AND EXPANDING NE TOWARDS BJI AREA.
LATEST MSAS SFC PRESSURE ANALYSIS HAS LOW ALONG NE/IA BORDER AND
HIGH CENTERED ALONG ND/SW MB BORDER. WHEN COMPARING INITIALIZATION
CONDITIONS TO MODELS...PREFERRED SLOWER ETA SOLUTION. LOW MOVES
THROUGH IA...S MN INTO NE WI BY 00Z TUE. WITH Q-VECTOR CONVERGENCE
MAINTAINING ITSELF THROUGH 12Z...EXPECT PCPN AREA TO DIMINISH FAIRLY
QUICKLY LATE MORNING AND THIS AFTERNOON...AS LOW SHIFTS E OF CWFA
AND GOOD Q-VECTOR DIVERGENCE AND DRIER AIR WORK IN WITH HIGH.
NUMEROUS CALLS TO AREA SHERIFFS DEPARTMENTS INDICATE THAT A MIX OF
RA AND SN IS PREDOMINATELY OCCURRING...WITH SOME AREAS ABLE TO
CHANGING OVER TO HEAVY WET. WITH SFC TEMPS HOLDING AROUND
FREEZING...COULD HAVE SOME AREAS GET ADDITIONAL INCH OR TWO BEFORE
START TAPERING OFF. HOWEVER...NOT EXPECTING ENOUGH SN TO KEEP
WARNING OR ADVISORY GOING. THANKS TO DLH FOR COORD.

FORECAST CHALLENGES FOR MON NIGHT AND TUE IS TEMPS. HIGH PRESSURE
RIDGE BUILDS INTO CWFA...ERODING OUT CLOUDS FOR MON NIGHT.
THEREFORE...ANTICIPATE WINDS GOING LIGHT AND GOOD RADIATIONAL
COOLING TO OCCUR...DROPPING LOWS INTO LOW TO MIDDLE 30S FOR ANOTHER
NIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE MOVES THROUGH MN SIDE OF CWFA ON TUE AS
TROF AND UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE APPROACH.  WITH SW-W FLOW DEVELOPING
AHEAD OF TROF...EXPECT TEMPS TO BE ABLE TO REBOUND BACK INTO 50S. NO
CHANGESw PLANNED AT THIS TIME FOR EXTENDED.

.FGF...NONE.

NG

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, North Beltrami

When: April 23, 3:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where: North Beltrami forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.974, -94.938 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, South Beltrami

When: April 23, 3:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where: South Beltrami forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.974, -94.938 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, North Clearwater

When: April 23, 3:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where: North Clearwater forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.578, -95.379 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, South Clearwater

When: April 23, 3:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where: South Clearwater forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.578, -95.379 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Hubbard

When: April 23, 3:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where: Hubbard forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.109, -94.917 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Mahnomen

When: April 23, 3:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where: Mahnomen forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.325, -95.809 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, East Becker

When: April 23, 3:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where: East Becker forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.935, -95.674 (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: 5238771, 5238772, 5238773, 5238774, 5238775, 5238776, 5238777.