Minnesota, 2003

Heavy Snow in Minnesota, March 26 to 27, 2003

March 26 to 27, 2003 · NWS FGF · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

A strong upper level disturbance combined with an inverted trough at the surface to produce heavy snow across northwest Minnesota. The event began as light rain, then changed over to snow as cold air was drawn into the system.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
6

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 upper level disturbance combined with an inverted trough at the surface to produce heavy snow across northwest Minnesota. The event began as light rain, then changed over to snow as cold air was drawn into the system. The heavy, wet snow broke some tree branches and resulted in scattered power outages. A foot of snow fell from the Lake of the Woods to Thief Lake, with 6 to 10 inches of snow common across the rest of the warning area. The heavy snow moved very slowly from west to east, resulting in a slow eastward progression of warnings. Therefore, the heavy snow warning was issued first for Kittson and western Marshall counties (3/26/03 at 10:50 pm cst), next for Roseau and eastern Marshall counties (3/27/03 at 3:58 am cst), and last for Lake of the Woods and northern Beltrami counties (3/27/03 at 7:34 am cst). The warnings for Kittson, east and west Marshall, and Roseau were cancelled at 8:33 am cst on 3/27/03, while Lake of the Woods and northern Beltrami were cancelled at 11:30 am cst on 3/27/03.

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 Mar 26, 8:45 PM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 26, 8:45 PM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
845 PM CST WED MAR 26 2003

.CURRENT OBSERVATIONAL OVERVIEW...
02Z MSAS ANALYSIS DEPICTED WEAK LOW PRESSURE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL
SOUTH DAKOTA WITH ASSOCIATED INVERTED TROUGH AXIS ARCHING NORTHEAST
ALONG RED RIVER VALLEY. LATEST SATELLITE IMAGERY AND KMVX RADAR
TRENDS INDICATED SMALL BUT TIGHTLY PACKED VORT WORKING ACROSS
EASTERN DAKOTA WITH WARM CONVEYER BELT BAND OF PRECIPITATION
FROM SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA INTO WESTERN CENTRAL MINNESOTA WHILE
DEFORMATION ZONE I.E. COLD CONVEYER BELT WAS PIVOTING ACROSS
NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA.

.FORECAST DETAILS...
CALLS TO LOCAL SPOTTERS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT SUGGEST SNOW ON
BACKSIDE OF FEATURE I.E. DEFORMATION ZONE STILL STAYING WITHIN
INHERITED HEADLINE GUIDELINES...THUS PLAN NO CHANGES IN REGARDS TO
THAT MATTER. ATTM UPDATE ONLY PLANNED TO REMOVE EVENING MENTION AND
ADDRESS RAIN TO SNOW TRANSITION TIMING.

.FGF...SNOW ADVISORY ALONG AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM NEW ROCKFORD TO
CROOKSTON TO HALLOCK.

BERG
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 26, 6:00 AM CST, 16 hours 50 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>031-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-261400-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
600 AM CST WED MAR 26 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WEST
CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

NG

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Kittson

When
March 26, 10:50 PM CST to March 27, 8:33 AM CST
Where
Kittson forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
48.777, -96.783 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, West Marshall

When
March 26, 10:50 PM CST to March 27, 8:33 AM CST
Where
West Marshall forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
48.358, -96.368 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Roseau

When
March 27, 3:58 AM CST to 8:33 AM CST
Where
Roseau forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
48.775, -95.811 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, East Marshall

When
March 27, 3:58 AM CST to 8:33 AM CST
Where
East Marshall forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
48.358, -96.368 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lake of the Woods

When
March 27, 7:34 AM CST to 11:30 AM CST
Where
Lake of the Woods forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
48.771, -94.905 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, North Beltrami

When
March 27, 7:34 AM CST to 11:30 AM CST
Where
North Beltrami forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
47.974, -94.938 (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

More

Every storm in Minnesota in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, March 2003

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: 5344622, 5344623, 5344624, 5344625, 5344626, 5344627.