Due to a very wet fall, and a deep snow pack by mid March, when temperatures began to rise and melt the snow, area streams, creeks and eventually rivers rose to minor, moderate, and major stage levels. During the onset of the snow melt, area streams, creeks and rivers had numerous ice jams that caused flooding across many areas in southern Minnesota.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS MPX wrote it up.
Due to a very wet fall, and a deep snow pack by mid March, when temperatures began to rise and melt the snow, area streams, creeks and eventually rivers rose to minor, moderate, and major stage levels.
During the onset of the snow melt, area streams, creeks and rivers had numerous ice jams that caused flooding across many areas in southern Minnesota. Road closures due to creeks and streams developed as early as Monday March 21st, and quickly spread across a large portion of southern Minnesota. By March 23rd, several areas along the Minnesota River between the southwestern suburbs of the Twin Cities, to Mankato started to close. This included Highways 93 and 19 near Henderson, and Scott County Road 9 near Jordan. In addition, Lac Qui Parle, Yellow Medicine, Brown, Watonwan, Blue Earth, Sibley, Scott and McLeod Counties had several county roads closed or impassable by Wednesday March 23rd.
A large storm system on March 22nd and 23rd dropped on average one half to 1.50 inches of liquid precipitation across the area. However, as much colder air began to move south on the 23rd, all of the precipitation switched over to snow.
By Wednesday, March 23rd, major river crossings in the Twin Cities began to close due to the flood waters; this included Highway 41 near Chaska and Highway 101 near Shakopee. In addition, more county roads started to close across southern Minnesota, and Highway 65 in Albert Lea shut down.
The last week of March, most of the Minnesota River and its tributaries had their first crests. However, a cold spell the last week of March, caused the rivers to fall or hold steady as the runoff from the snow melt abated.
Although ice jams were reported across the area, one ice jam on the Seven Mile Creek near St. Peter resulted in a fatality on March 22 when a MNDOT worker tried to clear the ice jam and his Backhoe tipped over and fell into the area where Seven Mile Creek flows into the Minnesota River.
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 Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 20, 6:31 PM CST, 3 hours 29 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
731 PM CDT SUN MAR 20 2011
.UPDATE...
AFTER COLLABORATION WITH NEIGHBORING OFFICES...HAVE EXPANDED DENSE
FOG ADVY FOR THIS EVENING. WITH DENSE FOG NOW BEING REPORTED
ACROSS THE ENTIRE TWIN CITIES METRO ALL THE WAY DOWN TOWARD
ROCHESTER AND SLOWLY EXPANDING EAST ACROSS WI...HAVE GONE AHEAD
AND EXPANDED THE DENSE FOG ADVY TO RICE/GOODHUE COUNTIES IN MN AND
INTO ALL OF WRN WI. FOG IS SLOWLY BEING EATEN AWAY AS WINDS TURN
WRLY BEHIND A WEAK FRONT...BUT THERE HAS BEEN A LAG BETWEEN
IMPROVING VSBYS AND THE WIND SHIFT. AS A RESULT...EXTENDED THE
ADVY OUT TO 09Z FOR ERN MN INTO WI...WHERE THE WIND SHIFT AND
DRIER AIR WILL MAKE IT LAST. CURRENT THINKING IS THAT ENOUGH OF A
WRLY WIND WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TO CLEAN OUT THE FOG...BUT THE
HRRR KEEPS THE GRADIENT BAGGY ACROSS MOST OF THE MPX CWA...WHICH
MAY INHIBIT VSBY IMPROVENTS UNTIL THE MORNING. WILL JUST HAVE TO
WAIT AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE DISSIPATION END OF
THINGS...WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF MORE EXTENSTIONS ARE NEEDED.
MPG
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION...
/ISSUED 455 PM CDT SUN MAR 20 2011/ IT
CERTAINLY IS SPRING TIME...WITH THIS FORECAST HAVING CONCERNS OF
FOG...FLOODING...THUNDER...ICE...AND HEAVY SNOW.
TONIGHT...TWO SURFACE LOWS WITH A SLOW EASTWARD-MOVING FRONT
BETWEEN THEM ARE POSITIONED IN NORTHWEST MN AND SOUTHERN IA LATE
THIS AFTERNOON. THE PRIMARY MOISTURE TRANSPORT AXIS IS NOW WELL TO
THE SOUTHEAST. MID-LEVEL SHORT WAVE SEEN ON WATER VAPOR IS USING
SOME OF THE LINGERING ELEVATED INSTABILITY...WITH MOST UNSTABLE
LIFTED INDICES NEAR -2. SOME SCATTERED SHOWERS AND T-STORMS
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS WILL BE SEEN INTO EARLY EVENING ACROSS
WESTERN WI BEFORE SHIFTING EAST AND FADING. THE LIGHT WINDS AND
AMPLE BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE...PARTLY HELPED WITH ANOTHER DAY OF
MELT...HAVE ESTABLISHED DENSE FOG IN PARTS OF CENTRAL MN. WITH
THE SLOW ADVANCEMENT OF THE BOUNDARY AND CONTINUED HIGH HUMIDITY
THROUGH THIS EVENING...HAVE ISSUED A DENSE FOG ADVISORY FOR
CENTRAL MN. CONFIDENCE IN THIS IS NOT HIGH...BUT SEEING ZERO
VISIBILITIES AND POOR CONDITIONS IN WEB CAMS DURING AN AFTERNOON
MEAN THE FOG WILL LIKELY WILL GET WORSE AFTER DARK. TE ADVISORY
MAY NEED TO BE EXPANDED SOUTHWARD TO INCLUDE MORE OF THE METRO AND
INTO MORE OF WESTERN WI.
MONDAY...THIS SHOULD BE THE ONE QUIET DAY OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE
WEEK. RESIDUAL LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE MAY BE TOUGH TO
SCOUR...ESPECIALLY IN NORTHERN AND EASTERN COMMUNITIES OF THE
FORECAST AREA. TEMPERATURES IN THE 45 TO 50 DEGREE RANGE ARE
EXPECTED UNDER ONLY HIGH CLOUDS BY AFTERNOON.
MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...THE SUITE OF MODEL GUIDANCE IS IN
GENERAL SYNOPTIC AGREEMENT BUT WITH SOME KEY THERMAL PATTERN
DIFFERENCES. BASED ON A CONFERENCE CALL WITH HPC AND NEIGHBORING
WFOS TO THE NORTH...HAVE FELT BETTER IN THE TREND OF THE EC AND
HOW IT IS CLOSE TO THE NAM. THE GFS APPEARS TOO MILD GIVEN THE
PLACEMENT OF THE LOW AND LOW-LEVEL JET. SO HAVE GUIDED BY THE
20.00 EC /WHICH THE 20.12 EC IS CLOSE TO/ AND THE 20.12 NAM.
HEIGHT FALLS IN ADVANCE OF AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH ACROSS THE
WESTERN U.S. WILL BEGIN DURING MONDAY NIGHT. PART OF THIS LONG
WAVE IS EXPECTED TO EJECT AS A CLOSED LOW AND TRACK EAST ACROSS
THE HIGH PLAINS LATER TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. SO THE FIRST CONCERN
IS THE LOW-LEVEL JET WITH DEEP MOISTURE FLUX WELL ABOVE NORMAL AND
ELEVATED INSTABILITY ON MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY...THEN THE
PRECIPITATION AS THE THICKNESSES AND TEMPERATURES COLLAPSE TUESDAY
NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. BESIDES CENTRAL MN...WHERE THERE IS GREATER
UNCERTAINTY...THE REST OF THE FORECAST AREA LOOKS TO BE IN RAIN
DURING THE FIRST SURGE. SOME OF THIS RAIN MAY BE QUITE
APPRECIABLE...WITH A MEDIAN OF THE NAM AND EC PROVIDING 0.75 TO
1.50 INCHES ACROSS MUCH OF THAT AREA. IF CONFIDENCE
INCREASES...THERE WILL LIKELY BE FLOODING ISSUES TO A LARGER AREAL
EXTENT THAN THE RIVER...ESPECIALLY WITH THE PROBABILITY OF
THUNDER INCREASING. A FLOOD WATCH WILL CERTAINLY BE CONSIDERED
OVER THE COMING 24 HOURS. TOP DOWN TECHNIQUES ON THE NAM DO SHOW
FREEZING RAIN CHANCES ACROSS CENTRAL MN...DEPENDING ON JUST HOW
EARLY THE PRECIPITATION STARTS. THE SREF MEMBERS ARE MORE LEANING
TOWARD RAIN...CLOSER TO THE GFS. HPC DOES HAVE ONE TENTH OF AN
INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION AND HAVE AT LEAST ADDED THE CHANCE OF
FREEZING RAIN FROM MONDAY NIGHT TO TUESDAY. THINK ANY SNOW THAT
FALLS THEN SHOULD BE A VERY WET SNOW AND MIXED WITH LIQUID. FOR
TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY PRECIPITATION SHOULD CHANGE TO
SNOW...FIRST OVER CENTRAL MN. THE POTENTIAL FOR BANDED
SNOW...ALONG WITH ELEVATED INSTABILITY...DOES PROVIDE CONCERNS OF
SOME HEAVY SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. WHILE THERE IS A LOT OF UNCERTAINTY
ON THE TRANSITION AREA AND THE MODELS CURRENTLY FAVOR JUST NORTH
OF THE AREA...THE COMBINATION OF ICE AND SNOW ACCUMULATIONS
WARRANT AT LEAST SOME NOTICE...AND WITH OTHER OFFICES HAVE GONE
WITH A WATCH. THIS SYSTEM CERTAINLY LOOKS TO HAVE A LOT OF WEATHER
IMPACTS ON THE UPPER MIDWEST.
THURSDAY INTO NEXT WEEKEND...THE PATTERN GENERALLY FAVORS BELOW
NORMAL TEMPERATURES...INCLUDING SINGLE DIGIT LOW TEMPERATURE
POSSIBILITIES. THE EC IS STRONGER WITH THE HIGH PRESSURE THAT
FOLLOWS THE MID-WEEK SYSTEM. THIS KEEPS THE STORM TRACK JUST TO
THE SOUTH. HAVE CONFINED THE POPS FOR NEXT WEEKEND TO SOUTHERN AND
SOUTHWESTERN MN.
HYDROLOGY...
SNOW MELT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY...POTENTIALLY MORE RAPIDLY
DURING THE DAY TUESDAY AS RAIN FALLS ON SNOW ACROSS A LARGE PART
OF THE AREA. PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS OF THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH TO
ONE AND A HALF INCHES ARE CURRENTLY EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA. IF
THIS DOES COME TO FRUITION...AREAL FLOODING IN PLACES MAY BECOME A
CONCERN ALONG WITH QUICKER RISES ON SMALLER STREAMS.
&&
.AVIATION.../00Z TAF ISSUANCE/
FRONTAL BOUNDARY IS CURRENTLY MOVING THROUGH THE AREA... BRINGING
A WIND SHIFT AROUND TO THE WEST AND AT LEAST A TEMPORARY
IMPROVEMENT IN CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES. HOWEVER... THERE IS A
LACK OF STRONG DRY ADVECTION BEHIND THE FRONT AND WITH THE LOW
LEVEL SO JUICED DO NOT HAVE MUCH CONFIDENCE IN THINGS REMAINING
CLEARED OUT WHERE THEY HAVE ALREADY CLEARED AND CERTAINLY AM
CONCERNED LOCATIONS FARTHER EAST WILL EVEN SCOUR OUT FOR ANY TIME
AT ALL. THE VARIOUS GUIDANCE... RUC... HRRR... LAMP... VSREF...
ARE ALL VERY PESSIMISTIC AND HAVE IFR OR LIFR CONDITIONS FOR MUCH
OF THE NIGHT ACROSS ESSENTIALLY ALL OF THE FORECAST AREA. AT THIS
POINT... PLAN TO BE PESSIMISTIC AS WELL AND GO WITH IFR AND LIFR
CONDITIONS AT MOST LOCATIONS WITH JUST A BRIEF WINDOW OF IMPROVED
CONDITIONS BEHIND THE FRONT/TROUGH. CERTAINLY DO NOT HAVE A HIGH
DEGREE OF CONFIDENCE IN THE FORECAST... AND EXPECT SOME AMENDMENTS
THROUGHOUT THE OVERNIGHT.
KMSP... MAIN CONCERN/ISSUE IS IF WE SEE A PERIOD OF IMPROVEMENT IN
VISIBILITY AND CEILINGS THIS EVENING AND IF SO... HOW LONG IT
LASTS. FOR NOW... ALLOWED FOR A TEMPO FOR MVFR CONDITIONS... BUT
WILL GO PESSIMISTIC OVERALL AND CARRY 1/2SM THROUGH THE NIGHT...
AND WOULDN/T BE SURPRISED TO SEE THINGS GET DOWN TO 1/4SM OR LESS
ALONG WITH VV001. THERE SIMPLY IS NOT A GOOD PUNCH OF DRY AIR
BEHIND THE FRONT/TROUGH... AND WITH SO MUCH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE
LINGERING IT LOOKS LIKE CONDITIONS WILL HAVE A HARD TIME
IMPROVING. HOWEVER... OVERALL CONFIDENCE IN THE SPECIFICS OF THE
FORECAST IS LOW... AND AMENDMENTS SEEM A CERTAINTY.
&&
.MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MN...WINTER STORM WATCH FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY
EVENING FOR DOUGLAS-KANABEC-MILLE LACS-MORRISON-TODD.
DENSE FOG ADVISORY UNTIL 1 AM CDT MONDAY FOR BENTON-CARVER-
HENNEPIN-MCLEOD-MEEKER-MORRISON-RICE-SCOTT-SHERBURNE-
STEARNS-TODD-WRIGHT.
DENSE FOG ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM CDT MONDAY FOR ANOKA-CHISAGO-
DAKOTA-GOODHUE-ISANTI-KANABEC-MILLE LACS-RAMSEY-WASHINGTON.
WI...DENSE FOG ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM CDT MONDAY FOR BARRON-CHIPPEWA-
DUNN-EAU CLAIRE-PEPIN-PIERCE-POLK-RUSK-ST. CROIX.
&&
MPG/MTF/TRHHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 427 PM CDT SUN MAR 20 2011 MNZ041>045-047>070-073>078-082>085-091>093-WIZ014>016-023>028- 211100- DOUGLAS-TODD-MORRISON-MILLE LACS-KANABEC-STEVENS-POPE-STEARNS- BENTON-SHERBURNE-ISANTI-CHISAGO-LAC QUI PARLE-SWIFT-CHIPPEWA- KANDIYOHI-MEEKER-WRIGHT-HENNEPIN-ANOKA-RAMSEY-WASHINGTON- YELLOW MEDICINE-RENVILLE-MCLEOD-SIBLEY-CARVER-SCOTT-DAKOTA- REDWOOD-BROWN-NICOLLET-LE SUEUR-RICE-GOODHUE-WATONWAN-BLUE EARTH- WASECA-STEELE-MARTIN-FARIBAULT-FREEBORN-POLK-BARRON-RUSK- ST. CROIX-PIERCE-DUNN-PEPIN-EAU CLAIRE- 427 PM CDT SUN MAR 20 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL MINNESOTA...EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA... SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...NORTHWEST WISCONSIN AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH EARLY EVENING...MAINLY EAST OF THE HIGHWAY 53 CORRIDOR IN WESTERN WISCONSIN. DENSE FOG WILL CONTINUE ACROSS CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND EXPAND INTO FAR WESTERN WISCONSIN THROUGH THIS EVENING. THIS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO ONE QUARTER OF A MILE OR LESS IN PLACES. THE DENSE FOG MAY PERSIST INTO OVERNIGHT ACROSS WESTERN WISCONSIN. ONGOING RIVER FLOODING CONTINUES...PLEASE SEE THE LATEST HYDROLOGICAL STATEMENTS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA LATE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY AS A SLOW MOVING SYSTEM MOVES GRADUALLY EAST ACROSS THE AREA. RAINFALL OF ONE HALF TO ONE AND A HALF INCHES IS POSSIBLE ACROSS SOUTHERN AND EASTERN MINNESOTA AND WESTERN WISCONSIN. THE POTENTIAL FOR THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS PRIMARILY OVER SOUTHERN MINNESOTA. WINTRY PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED AT TIMES ACROSS CENTRAL MINNESOTA...AND POTENTIALLY ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE OUTLOOK AREA. IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA...APPRECIABLE SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS INCLUDING SOME ICE ACCUMULATION IS BECOMING LIKELY THROUGH THE MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY TIME PERIOD. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST OUTLOOKS...STATEMENTS...AND FORECASTS FOR THIS UPCOMING SYSTEM. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
19 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
An ice jam caused the Minnesota River to back up along the Highway 19 bridge and flood the roadway east of Henderson. Eventually, State Highway 93, south of Henderson was closed due to the Rush River backing up due to another ice jam.
Several county roads along the Minnesota River from Henderson, north to the Carver County border were impassable due to Spring snow melt and the associated runoff that continued through the end of March.
Several state and county roads along the Minnesota River closed due to Spring flooding. Some of the major routes included Highways 169, 99 and 22 from Kasota, north to town of Le Sueur, Minnesota.
Several highways and county roads from North Mankato, northward along the Minnesota River to Le Sueur, Minnesota were impassable due to Spring flooding. Some of the major routes included 169, 22, and 93 and 99. There was one fatality on March 22 when a MNDOT worker tried to clear an ice jam and his Backhoe tipped over and fell into the area where Seven Mile Creek flows into the Minnesota River.
Several highways, and county roads were closed for a long period due to Spring snow melt along the Minnesota River, and several of its tributaries. Some of the major roads that were closed in Lac Qui Parle County includes 212, 75 and 40.
Several highways and county roads were closed due to Spring snow melt and associated flooding along the Minnesota and Yellow Medicine Rivers. Some of the main roads that were closed due to the flooding were Highways 59 and 23.
Several county roads across southern Scott County were impassible due to melting snow and runoff.
Several county roads were flooded due to Spring snow melt and rainfall across the area through late March.
Several county roads became impassable due to Spring snow melt and rainfall that continued through the end of the month.
Several county roads became impassable due to Spring snow melt and rainfall that lasted through the end of March.
Several county roads became impassable due to Spring snow melt and rainfall around the Blue Earth River.
U.S. Highway 65 in Albert Lea was closed for a part of March due to Spring snow melt and the runoff associated with it.
Several county roads became impassable along the Straight River due to Spring snow melt, and the associated runoff that continued through the end of March.
Several state highways, and county roads became impassable due to Spring snow melt and the associated runoff through the end of March. Areas along the Buffalo and South Fork of the Crow River were the hardest hit with road closures.
Several county roads and U.S. Highways along the Crow River were impassable due to Spring snow melt and the associated runoff that continued through the end of March.
Several county roads and highways were closed due to Spring melting along the Minnesota River, and some of its tributaries from Milan, to Montevideo to around Granite Falls, Minnesota. One of the major routes that was closed partially was Highway 7.
Several county roads along the Le Sueur River became impassable due to Spring snow melt and the associated runoff through late March.
Several county roads and U.S. Highways became impassable due to Spring snow melt and the associated runoff that continued through the end of the month. The worst areas were along the Redwood and Cottonwood Rivers, and their tributaries.
Several county roads were impassable due to Spring snow melt and the associated runoff. There was a mud slide along Highway 19, due to the saturated soil and caused the road to be temporary closed.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flood, Nicollet | 2011-03-22 | 39 | Male | Heavy Equipment/Construction | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, March 2011
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: 287295, 287313, 288944, 288945, 288950, 288951, 287296, 287297, 287298, 287299, 287302, 287305, 287309, 287310, 287312, 288949, 287307, 287315, 287316.