Heavy Snow, Big Stone
- When
- February 20, 8:26 PM CST to February 21, 10:23 AM CST
- Where
- Big Stone forecast zone
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 45.426, -96.411 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Minnesota, February 20 to 21, 2022
A band of moderate to heavy snow developed within a very cold airmass, migrating into western Minnesota during the evening of February 20th and persisting into the morning of February 21st. This was part of a broader arctic blast that also featured dangerous cold and wind chills as well as an additional round of snow with strong winds and intermittent blizzard conditions.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
- 2
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.
A band of moderate to heavy snow developed within a very cold airmass, migrating into western Minnesota during the evening of February 20th and persisting into the morning of February 21st. This was part of a broader arctic blast that also featured dangerous cold and wind chills as well as an additional round of snow with strong winds and intermittent blizzard conditions. Peak snow amounts with this initial band ranged between 7 inches in Browns Valley and 6 inches in Beardsley.
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 Feb 20, 5:33 PM CST, 2 hours 53 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 20, 5:33 PM CST, 2 hours 53 minutes before
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</html>Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 20, 3:08 PM CST, 5 hours 18 minutes before
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</html>The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Traverse
- When
- February 20, 8:26 PM CST to February 21, 10:23 AM CST
- Where
- Traverse forecast zone
- Reported by
- COOP Observer
- Coordinates
- 45.772, -96.472 (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
- Rip Currents in Puerto Rico, February 20 to 22, 2022
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Colorado, February 20 to 24, 2022
- Blizzard and Heavy Snow in North Dakota, February 20 to 22, 2022
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Montana, February 20 to 21, 2022
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in South Dakota, February 20 to 22, 2022
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, February 20 to 22, 2022
- Blizzard in North Dakota, February 20, 2022
- Winter Storm in North Dakota, February 20 to 22, 2022
- Heavy Snow in South Dakota, February 20 to 21, 2022
- Blizzard in Minnesota, February 20, 2022
- Winter Storm in Idaho, February 20 to 21, 2022
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Montana, February 20 to 21, 2022
More
Every storm in Minnesota in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, February 2022
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: 1003977, 1003978.