Winter Storm in Minnesota, October 4 to 6, 2005

An early season winter storm began as an area of surface low pressure near Colorado. The low tracked to near Sioux Falls, SD, by tuesday evening (December 4th). Then, the low lifted nearly straight north, reaching the Fargo, ND, area by mid-morning on the 5th. The low continued to lift to the north, reaching Reynolds, ND, by late afternoon. The low then began to shift east, passing near Bemidji by late evening on the 5th. The storm system brought a variety of weather to the region. Very strong northeast winds occurred while the surface low was in North Dakota, then winds turned more north-northwest as the low passed into Minnesota. Temperatures were fairly warm initially, so the precipitation began as rain. However, as temperatures dropped, the precipitation changed to freezing rain and then to heavy, wet snow. The heaviest snow fell across northern Towner and northern Cavalier Counties, where Sarles reported 14 inches and Calvin and Munich reported 10 inches. Lower amounts were reported to the south and east, with Leeds at 8 inches, Langdon at 7 inches, Walhalla at 6 inches, Starkweather at 5 inches, and Cavalier and Devils Lake at 4 inches. The heavy, wet snow bogged down power lines and caused sporadic line breaks.