Heavy Snow in Minnesota, April 20 to 21, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Minnesota, April 20 to 21, 2002
Start: 2002-04-20T23:00
End: 2002-04-21T10:00
Location: Minnesota

April 20 to 21, 2002 · NWS FSD · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

A late season wet snowfall accumulated four to eight inches and disrupted travel.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 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: 8

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 FSD wrote it up.

A late season wet snowfall accumulated four to eight inches and disrupted travel.

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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 20, 8:10 PM CST, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 20, 8:10 PM CST, 2 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR SOUTHEAST SD/SOUTHWEST MN/NORTHWEST IA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
910 PM CDT SAT APR 20 2002

PRECIP HAS MOVED INTO SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA...MAINLY RAIN PER
THE SURFACE OBS WE HAVE AVAILABLE /KYKN EXPERIENCING SOME TECHINICAL
PROBLEMS AS IS KSPW/.  EVEN RECEIVED A REPORT OF SMALL HAIL IN NORTH
SIOUX CITY AS A STRONGER RAIN SHOWER MOVED THROUGH THAT AREA EARLIER
IN THE EVENING.  HOWEVER...ECHOES ON NORTH PLATTE 88D BEGINNING TO
DEVELOP THE SMOOTHER APPEARANCE CHARACTERISTIC OF SNOWFALL...AND
SURFACE OBS IN KVTN CONFIRM THIS...CHANGING FROM 10SM -RA AT 42 DEGF
AT 01Z...TO 2SM -SN AND 33 DEGF AT THE PRESENT TIME.  GOING FORECAST
HAS THIS HANDLED PRETTY WELL...DEVELOPING -SN IN SOUTHWEST COUNTIES
THIS EVENING...WITH SCATTERED/CHANCE FOR RAIN SHOWERS EAST OF THE
JAMES VALLEY AND SOUTH OF I90...CHANGING TO MORE WIDESPREAD SNOW AS
UPPER LEVEL DYNAMIC SUPPORT MOVES INTO THE AREA CLOSER TO MIDNIGHT.

00Z ETA JUST STARTING TO RUN AND POST TO NCEP INTERNET PAGE...AND A
QUICK LOOK AT FIRST 6 HOURS DOES NOT SHOW ANYTHING THAT WOULD RESULT
IN ANY DRASTIC CHANGES TO THE GOING SCENARIO FOR HEAVIER SNOWFALL.
AT THIS POINT WILL STICK WITH THINKING ON PREVIOUS FORECAST.  WILL
LIKELY UPDATE ZONES TO CLEAN UP SOME WORDING FOR THE PRECIP TYPE
TRANSITION...BUT NO MAJOR CHANGES.  UPDATED ZFP AND WSW OUT BY 0245Z.

.FSD...WNTR STRM WRNG MIDNIGHT TO MIDDAY SUNDAY  KMHE-KPQN-KORC-KYKN
       WNTR STRM WRNG LT TNGT AND SUNDAY E OF KBKX-KSHL-KEST
       WNTR WX ADVY MID THRU SUN MRNG KHON THRU K9V9 AREAS
       WXTR WX ADVY LT TNGT AND SUNDAY KSPW-N OF KSUX.
 HACKER

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Cottonwood

When: April 20, 11:00 PM CST to April 21, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Cottonwood forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 44.007, -95.181 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Jackson

When: April 20, 11:00 PM CST to April 21, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Jackson forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.674, -95.154 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lincoln

When: April 20, 11:00 PM CST to April 21, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Lincoln forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 44.413, -96.267 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lyon

When: April 20, 11:00 PM CST to April 21, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Lyon forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 44.414, -95.839 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Murray

When: April 20, 11:00 PM CST to April 21, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Murray forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 44.022, -95.763 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Nobles

When: April 20, 11:00 PM CST to April 21, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Nobles forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.674, -95.753 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Pipestone

When: April 20, 11:00 PM CST to April 21, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Pipestone forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 44.023, -96.259 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Rock

When: April 20, 11:00 PM CST to April 21, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Rock forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.675, -96.253 (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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, April 2002

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: 5306159, 5306160, 5306161, 5306162, 5306163, 5306164, 5306165, 5306166.