Minnesota, 2018

Heavy Snow in Minnesota, April 13 to 15, 2018

April 13 to 15, 2018 · NWS ABR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Several periods of snowfall wrapped into west central Minnesota around a very large upper level low pressure system from the 13th to the 15th. Heavy snowfall of 9 to 13 inches combined with winds up to 40 mph at times to produce near blizzard conditions.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 ABR wrote it up.

Several periods of snowfall wrapped into west central Minnesota around a very large upper level low pressure system from the 13th to the 15th. Heavy snowfall of 9 to 13 inches combined with winds up to 40 mph at times to produce near blizzard conditions. Several schools and businesses were closed across the county on the 13th. Many events were also postponed or cancelled. Travel was difficult, if not impossible for much of the period. Snowfall amounts include 9 inches at Artichoke Lake and 13 inches at Ortonville.

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 Aberdeen, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 12, 5:38 PM CST, 20 hours 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 12, 5:38 PM CST, 20 hours 22 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Big Stone

When
April 13, 2:00 PM CST to April 15, 12:30 PM CST
Where
Big Stone forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
45.426, -96.411 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Minnesota in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, April 2018

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: 752415.