A storm system began to organize across the southwestern United States Tuesday morning, February 28th, and quickly moved northeast across the Plains and into the Upper Midwest Wednesday morning. Bands of light snow developed on the leading edge of the precipitation, but quickly turned over to a mixture of sleet, snow and freezing rain, before turning back over to snow early Wednesday morning.
There were two bands of heavier precipitation during this event. Although some light snow fell the morning of Tuesday, February 28th, the main band developed early Tuesday afternoon, along the Iowa border, with light snow mixed with sleet. It quickly moved northward across most of southern Minnesota by the late afternoon.
Most of the precipitation turned over to light rain and sleet south of the Minnesota River, with mostly snow, freezing rain, rain and sleet across the Twin Cities metro area, and west to Litchfield and Glencoe.
Most of the precipitation was in the form of snow from west-central into central Minnesota, as well as west-central Wisconsin. Although some sleet, freezing rain and rain was noted prior to midnight as far north as Willmar, St. Cloud, Forest Lake in Minnesota, and around New Richmond, Menomonie and Eau Claire, Wisconsin, heavier bands of snow developed during the evening. Snowfall rates as high as 2 inches per hour were noted with the first band of precipitation prior to midnight.
The second band of precipitation moved into far southern Minnesota prior to midnight, and moved northward across all of southern and central Minnesota by morning. Although some sleet, freezing rain and rain was noted on the onset, the mixed precipitation quickly turned over to snow across the Twin Cities, and areas to the north.
Snowfall amounts ranged from nearly a foot around Alexandria, Royalton, Mora and Rush City, to a general 6 to 9 inch band from Morris, eastward to St. Cloud, to the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities. Snowfall, combined with sleet and freezing rain dropped substantially south of Redwood Falls, to the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities, where locally one to two inches fell. Along the Iowa border, amounts were generally less than a half inch, with more ice accumulations on trees and power lines than snowfall.
This storm prompted classes to be canceled in dozens of school districts, and the University of Minnesota campus in Morris to shut down.