Lake-Effect Snow, Southern Lake
- When
- February 26, 9:00 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Southern Lake forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 47.557, -91.935 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lake-Effect Snow in Minnesota, February 26, 2009
Lake effect snow fell over north shore of Lake Superior. The heaviest snow, 6 to 10 inches, fell in the Finland and Silver Bay areas.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
Lake effect snow fell over north shore of Lake Superior. The heaviest snow, 6 to 10 inches, fell in the Finland and Silver Bay areas.
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 Feb 26, 3:07 AM CST, 5 hours 53 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 26, 3:07 AM CST, 5 hours 53 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
307 AM CST THU FEB 26 2009
.DISCUSSION...
FORECAST FOCUS WILL BE IN THE SHORT TERM...WITH SNOW SPREADING
INTO THE NORTHLAND.
NAM AND ECMWF IN DECENT AGREEMENT WITH THE TRACK OF THE LOW. SNOW
WAS SPREADING EAST TOWARD MUCH OF OUR WESTERN ZONES. SIGNIFICANT
FORCING WILL AFFECT THE AREA TODAY. STRONG UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE
BETWEEN STRONG 130KT JET ACROSS ONTARIO...AND 120KT JET PUNCHING
INTO THE SOUTHWEST US...WILL PASS THROUGH THE CWA TODAY. MODELS
CONTINUE TO FORECAST SIGNIFICANT FGEN...BUT THEY DO DIFFER SOME
ON EXACT PLACEMENT...IT WILL BE NEAR OUR WARNED AREA FROM PINE
COUNTY IN MN...EAST TOWARD PRICE COUNTY. CROSS SECTION THROUGH OUR
EASTERN WI COUNTIES REVEAL A VERY NICE FGEN SIGNATURE WITH SOME
NEGATIVE EPV VALUES. WE WILL ADD SOME ISOLATED THUNDER TO THE WARNED
COUNTIES FOR THE AFTERNOON. WE HAVE SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL ALREADY
FORECAST THIS AFTERNOON...BUT IF WE DO GET SOME CONVECTIVE
SNOWFALL...AMOUNTS MAY HAVE TO BE BUMPED UP. 290/295K SURFACES
SHOW GOOD LIFT AS WELL..ALTHOUGH THE MOST SIGNIFICANT LIFT REMAINS
SOUTH OF OUR CWA.
SNOW SHOULD TAPER OFF QUICKLY LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR EVENING FROM
NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST. WE DID MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS TO OUR
HEADLINES...AND ADDED A COUPLE COUNTIES TO THE NORTH.
IM STILL CONCERNED ABOUT THE SOUTH SHORE COUNTIES GETTING MORE
SNOWFALL THAN WE CURRENTLY FORECAST. THE EXACT CONTRIBUTION FROM
LAKE SUPERIOR IS THE BIG CONCERN. NORTHEAST WINDS WOULD FAVOR
MAINLY AREAS NORTH AND WEST OF HURLEY. TEMPERATURES COOL THIS
AFTERNOON AND FAVORS LAKE SNOW FORMATION AND THERE WILL BE PLENTY
OF FETCH WITH EAST TO NORTHEAST FLOW. THERE IS PLENTY OF ICE OVER
LAKE SUPERIOR BUT THAT DOES NOT SHUT OFF LES...AS WEVE SEEN
SEVERAL TIMES LATE THIS WINTER. ACCUMULATIONS WILL HAVE TO BE
MONITORED CLOSELY...FROM THE SUPERIOR AREA...EAST INTO FAR
NORTHERN IRON COUNTY FOR A POSSIBLE UPGRADE TO A WARNING.
COLD AIR WILL POUR INTO THE REGION TONIGHT...AND WE WILL LIKELY
NEED A WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR MUCH OF NORTHEAST MINNESOTA. WE
WILL NOT ISSUE ONE AT THIS TIME...BUT MENTION THE LOW WIND CHILLS
IN OUR FORECASTS AND OTHER PRODUCTS.
&&
.EXTENDED...FRIDAY NIGHT THRU WEDNESDAY...
DRY AND COLD CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED FOR THIS WEEKEND...AS A LARGE
RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE SLOWLY PROPAGATES ESEWD ACROSS THE UPPER
MIDWEST. THE RIDGE WILL MOVE OFF TO THE EAST OF OUR FCST AREA BY
MONDAY...RESULTING IN RETURN SOUTHERLY FLOW ACROSS THE
REGION...WHICH WILL BRING WARMER TEMPS TO THE NORTHLAND EARLY NEXT
WEEK. THE MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE NOT IN GOOD AGREEMENT
PRECIPITATION WISE FOR NEXT WEEK AS THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW BECOMES
MORE ZONAL AND UNSETTLED. THEREFORE OPTED NOT TO MAKE MAJOR CHANGES
TO THE POP GRIDS BEYOND THIS WEEKEND...KEEPING POPS FAIRLY LOW DUE
TO HIGH UNCERTAINTY.
&&
.AVIATION...A STRONG SHORTWAVE WILL TRACK EAST ACROSS THE MIDWEST
TODAY AND TONIGHT...BRINGING INCREASING CLOUDS AND SNOW TO THE
NORTHLAND. CIGS AND VSBYS WILL LOWER TO MVFR/IFR CATEGORY FOR MOST
AREAS BY MIDDAY...THEN STAY LOW THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. THE SNOW WILL
TAPER OFF TO SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS THIS EVENING...WITH MOST OF THE
SNOW ENDING AFTER MIDNIGHT. THE EXCEPTION WILL BE ALONG THE
SOUTHSHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR WHERE LAKE EFFECT SNOW IS EXPECTED.
&&
POINT TEMPS/POPS...
DLH 18 -7 9 -5 / 90 40 10 10
INL 8 -22 6 -12 / 60 10 0 10
BRD 21 -11 11 -5 / 100 30 0 10
HYR 26 -3 13 -10 / 100 60 10 10
ASX 22 0 12 -4 / 90 60 20 10
&&
.DLH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MN...WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO MIDNIGHT CST
TONIGHT FOR PINE.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 6 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM CST THIS
AFTERNOON FOR CROW WING-NORTHERN AITKIN-NORTHERN CASS-
SOUTHERN AITKIN-SOUTHERN CASS.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO MIDNIGHT CST
TONIGHT FOR CARLTON/SOUTHERN ST. LOUIS.
WI...WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO MIDNIGHT CST
TONIGHT FOR BURNETT-PRICE-SAWYER-WASHBURN.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO MIDNIGHT CST
TONIGHT FOR ASHLAND-BAYFIELD-DOUGLAS-IRON.
MELDE/BERDESHazardous weather outlook, Feb 26, 4:57 AM CST, 4 hours 3 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN 457 AM CST THU FEB 26 2009 MNZ010>012-018>021-025-026-033>038-WIZ001>004-006>009-271130- KOOCHICHING-NORTHERN ST. LOUIS-NORTHERN COOK/NORTHERN LAKE- NORTHERN ITASCA-CENTRAL ST. LOUIS-SOUTHERN LAKE/LAKESHORE- SOUTHERN COOK/LAKESHORE-NORTHERN CASS-SOUTHERN ITASCA- SOUTHERN CASS-CROW WING-NORTHERN AITKIN-SOUTHERN AITKIN- CARLTON/SOUTHERN ST. LOUIS-PINE-DOUGLAS-BAYFIELD-ASHLAND-IRON- BURNETT-WASHBURN-SAWYER-PRICE- 457 AM CST THU FEB 26 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST MINNESOTA AND NORTHWEST WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SNOW WILL SPREAD ACROSS MUCH OF THE NORTHLAND TODAY...BUT ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE QUITE VARIABLE. AREAS ALONG THE INTERNATIONAL BORDER WILL RECEIVE 1 TO 3 INCHES...WITH AS MUCH AS 5 TO 8 INCHES FROM PINE CITY TO PHILLIPS. THE SNOW WILL DIMINISH FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. A RUMBLE OF THUNDER WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE FROM PINE CITY...EAST TO THE PHILLIPS AND PARK FALLS AREAS. SEE THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE FOR MORE DETAILS REGARDING THE VARIOUS ADVISORIES AND WARNINGS AND EXPECTED SNOW AMOUNTS. MUCH COLDER AIR WILL MOVE IN TONIGHT...RESULTING IN LOW WIND CHILLS OVER MUCH OF NORTHEAST MINNESOTA. ADVISORIES MAY BE NEEDED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY FRIDAY WILL START OUT QUITE COLD...WITH LOW WIND CHILLS OVER MUCH OF THE REGION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. MELDE MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESS: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/DULUTH (ALL LOWER CASE)
In the hours before
Local storm report, Feb 26, 8:37 AM CST, 23 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
837 AM CST THU FEB 26 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0830 AM SNOW 6 N PILLAGER 46.41N 94.48W
02/26/2009 M1.3 INCH CASS MN TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
BETTWYThe radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 lake-effect snow. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Lake-Effect Snow
- Heavy snow in bands downwind of a large lake as cold air crosses warmer water.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, February 26, 2009
- Winter Weather in Wisconsin, February 26 to 27, 2009
- Strong Wind in Hawaii, February 26 to 28, 2009
- Wildfire in New Mexico, February 26, 2009
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Illinois, February 26 to 28, 2009
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, February 26, 2009
- Lightning Strike in Illinois, February 26, 2009
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, February 26, 2009
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, February 26, 2009
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Arkansas, February 26, 2009
- Winter Weather in South Dakota, February 26, 2009
- Winter Storm in Wisconsin, February 26, 2009
More
Every storm in Minnesota in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, February 2009
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: 156164.