A southeast moving area of moderate to heavy snow produced accumulations of up to 9 inches in part of southwest Minnesota from late afternoon on March 4th to a little after midnight on March 5th.
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.
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 FSD wrote it up.
A southeast moving area of moderate to heavy snow produced accumulations of up to 9 inches in part of southwest Minnesota from late afternoon on March 4th to a little after midnight on March 5th.
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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 4, 3:19 PM CST, 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 319 PM CST TUE MAR 4 2014 .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY) ISSUED AT 317 PM CST TUE MAR 4 2014 SHORTWAVE TROUGH OVER NORTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA DIGGING EAST SOUTHEAST THIS AFTERNOON WILL TRACK ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH THE EVENING. THIS WAVE HAS SLOWED ITS TIMING...WHILE THE PRECIPITATION FORMING ALONG THE MID LEVEL THERMAL GRADIENT CONTINUES TO FIGHT AGAINST DRY MID AND LOW LEVELS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA WITH EASTERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW. MID LEVEL CLOUDS FINALLY BEGINNING TO BUILD INTO OUR NORTHERN TIER OF COUNTIES...BUT IT MODELS SUGGEST THAT DRY MID AND LOW LEVELS WILL LIKELY HOLD OFF MUCH OF ANY SNOWFALL IN SOUTH CENTRAL SD AND THROUGH THE MISSOURI RIVER VALLEY. THE HIGH RESOLUTION MODELS SUCH AS THE HRRR...RAP AND SREF AND 12Z NAM BRING THE BEST POTENTIAL FOR SNOWFALL THROUGH THE HIGHWAY 14 CORRIDOR INTO SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA AND IOWA GREAT LAKES. THIS IS SUPPORTED BY THE BETTER QG FORCING...LIFT AND MOISTURE EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH THIS AREA. THE 12Z GFS REMAINS A BIT MORE BULLISH AND SLIGHTLY FURTHER SOUTH BUT SEEMS TO BE A BIT OF AN OUTLIER AT THIS POINT. THE 12Z NAM DOES AMP UP QPF AMOUNTS ACROSS THE BUFFALO RIDGE AREA INTO SOUTH CENTRAL MN/NORTH CENTRAL IA. DID UP SNOWFALL AMOUNTS HERE TO CLOSER TO 2.5 OR 3 INCHES. BUT WITH A SLIGHTLY LATER TIMING OF THE HEAVIER SNOWFALL - AFTER EVENING COMMUTE TIMES...AND WITH RELATIVELY LIGHT WINDS EXPECTED...WILL NOT BE ISSUING A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY. STILL...AMOUNTS WILL NEED TO BE WATCHED IN THE AREA IF BAND LOOKS MORE INTENSE. SIOUX FALLS LOOKS TO REMAIN ON THE LIGHT END OF THE SPECTRUM NEAR THE EDGE OF THE MORE SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL...WITH SEVERAL MODELS KEEPING FSD COMPLETELY DRY. THINK WE SHOULD SEE SOME LIGHT SNOWFALL...BUT LIKELY AROUND A HALF INCH OR LESS. SNOW WILL LINGER THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS...GRADUALLY TAPERING OFF FROM WEST TO EAST MID TO LATE EVENING. MODELS KEEPING LOW AND MID LEVEL STRATUS ACROSS THE AREA OVERNIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE QUITE A BIT WARMER TONIGHT THAN LAST NIGHT WITH STRATUS AND LIGHT WINDS WITH LOWS FROM AROUND 7 TO 15 DEGREES ABOVE ZERO. WINDS TURN MORE SOUTH SOUTHEAST ON WEDNESDAY WHICH WILL ALLOW SOME MODEST WARM AIR ADVECTION TO BUILD INTO THE AREA. CLOUDS ARE EXPECTED TO LINGER THROUGH MOST OF THE DAY...BECOMING MORE SCATTERED ALONG AND EAST OF THE JAMES RIVER IN THE AFTERNOON...HOWEVER MODELS HAVE BEEN TOO MOIST OF LATE...SO THERE IS SOME UNCERTAINTY THERE. THE CLOUDS WILL TEMPER THE WARMING A BIT...BUT HIGHS SHOULD MANAGE TO REACH THE 20S TO NEAR 30. .LONG TERM...(WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY) ISSUED AT 317 PM CST TUE MAR 4 2014 BIGGEST CHALLENGE ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO AT LEAST EARLY ON THURSDAY WILL BE THE POTENTIAL FOR STRATUS ACROSS THE AREA...AND POSSIBLE IMPACTS ON TEMPERATURES. MODELS ARE DIFFERING ON THE EXTENT/DURATION OF THE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...THOUGH THE BETTER CHANCE LOOKS TO BE IN OUR EAST THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON. OTHERWISE...SOUTHERLY FLOW INCREASES ACROSS THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE MOVES OFF TO THE EAST. WITH THAT...WILL SEE WINDS INCREASE THROUGH THE NIGHT IN A TIGHTENING GRADIENT AS A TROUGH APPROACHES FROM THE NORTHWEST. THIS IN COMBINATION WITH LOW LEVEL WARM AIR ADVECTION WILL RESULT IN A MILDER NIGHT...WITH TEMPERATURES ACTUALLY STEADYING OUT OR RISING LATER AT NIGHT AS THE WINDS PICK UP. STAYING ON THE HIGHER SIDE OF GUIDANCE FOR THE ABOVE REASONS...LOWS LOOK TO RANGE FROM THE MID TEENS TO LOWER 20S. ALONG THESE LINES...HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE PRETTY MILD IN SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA ON THURSDAY...WITH A BETTER POTENTIAL FOR CLOUDS TO BREAK OVER THAT AREA...WITH HIGHS INTO THE MID/UPPER 40S. FARTHER TO THE EAST...ONLY GOING MID/LOWER 30S WHERE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE MAY REMAIN LOCKED IN. A COLD FRONT THEN DROPS THROUGH THE AREA ON THURSDAY NIGHT. WHILE CANNOT COMPLETELY RULE OUT SOME ISOLATED LIGHT SNOW WITH THIS...WILL MAINLY BE A DRY FRONTAL PASSAGE. THE MAIN EFFECT FROM THIS SYSTEM WILL BE TO COOL TEMPERATURES DOWN FOR FRIDAY...THOUGH NOT UNREASONABLY COLD COMPARED TO TEMPERATURES OF LATE WITH HIGHS IN THE 20 TO LOWER 30S. FOR THE EXTENDED...WITH RISING UPPER LEVEL HEIGHTS...WILL HAVE MODERATING TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE PERIOD. THE ECMWF IS MOST AGGRESSIVE WITH THE WARMING FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY WHICH WOULD PORTEND HIGHS CLOSE TO 60 ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE SOUTH ON THOSE DAYS. THE GFS IS MUCH COOLER...SO STAYED CLOSER TO CONSENSUS GUIDANCE WITH HIGHS 40S TO LOWER 50S. PRECIPITATION CHANCES LOOK MINIMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 1137 AM CST TUE MAR 4 2014 BAND OF LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED TO TRACK ACROSS THE NORTHEAST HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. BEST CHANCES WILL ALONG ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM HURON TO SIOUX FALLS TO SPENCER IOWA WITH ONLY SOME FLURRIES LIKELY TO THE SOUTH AND WEST. MODELS SUGGEST THAT MVFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITY WILL WORK INTO THE AREA WITH THE SNOWFALL...HOWEVER MODELS ALSO SUGGEST THAT THE STRATUS MAY WORK FURTHER SOUTH ACROSS THE REST OF THE FORECAST AREA. WITH DRY LOW LEVELS...AM NOT CONFIDENT ON THE EXTENT OF THIS STRATUS OR HOW LONG IT WILL LINGER INTO THE DAY ON WEDNESDAY. IN THE STRONGER BANDS OF SNOWFALL COULD ALSO SEE TEMPORARY IFR VISIBILITY AS WELL. WINDS WILL GENERALLY REMAIN AROUND 10 KT OR LESS. SNOW SHOULD TAPER OFF ACROSS THE REGION BY AROUND 06Z. && .FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SD...NONE. MN...NONE. IA...NONE. NE...NONE. && SHORT TERM... LONG TERM...JM AVIATION...
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 1150 AM CST TUE MAR 04 2014 SDZ038>040-050-052>071-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097-098- IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032-NEZ013-014-051200- AURORA-BEADLE-BON HOMME-BROOKINGS-BRULE-BUENA VISTA IA- CHARLES MIX-CHEROKEE IA-CLAY-CLAY IA-COTTONWOOD MN-DAKOTA NE- DAVISON-DICKINSON IA-DIXON NE-DOUGLAS-GREGORY-HANSON-HUTCHINSON- IDA IA-JACKSON MN-JERAULD-KINGSBURY-LAKE-LINCOLN-LINCOLN MN- LYON IA-LYON MN-MCCOOK-MINER-MINNEHAHA-MOODY-MURRAY MN-NOBLES MN- OBRIEN IA-OSCEOLA IA-PIPESTONE MN-PLYMOUTH IA-ROCK MN-SANBORN- SIOUX IA-TURNER-UNION-WOODBURY IA-YANKTON- 1150 AM CST TUE MAR 04 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA... SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...NORTHWEST IOWA...AND NORTHEAST NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WINTER WEATHER... SNOW WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING...TAPERING OFF FROM WEST TO EAST MID TO LATE EVENING. THE GREATEST AMOUNTS OF SNOWFALL ARE EXPECTED IN EAST CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...WHERE AROUND TWO TO THREE INCHES COULD FALL. LIGHTER AMOUNTS WILL THEN OCCUR SOUTH AND WEST FROM THERE...WITH DE SMET TO DELL RAPIDS TO SPENCER IOWA GENERALLY ALONG A LINE OF ONE INCH OF SNOW. SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA AND THE MISSOURI VALLEY WILL SEE A DUSTING OR ONLY A FEW FLURRIES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT. && FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SIOUXFALLS. THIS INCLUDES THE GRAPHICAL HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 heavy snow, 3 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snow, accompanied by light to moderate winds, accumulated 5 to 8 inches, including 8 inches reported at Ivanhoe.
Snow, accompanied by light to moderate winds, accumulated 6 to 9 inches, including 9 inches reported near Marshall.
Snow, accompanied by light to moderate winds, accumulated up to 8 inches near the northern edge of Lincoln County, with accumulations tapering off to around 3 inches in the southwestern corner of the county. An accumulation of 8 inches was reported 4 miles north of Currie.
Snow, accompanied by light to moderate winds, accumulated 2 to 5 inches, with 5 inches falling northeast of the town of Pipestone.
Snow, accompanied by light to moderate winds, accumulated 2 to 5 inches, with 5 inches falling northwest of Windom.
Snow, accompanied by light to moderate winds, accumulated 2 to 4 inches, with 4 inches falling northeast of the town of Jackson in the northeast part of the county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, March 2014
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: 507847, 507850, 507853, 507855, 507861, 507862.