Heavy Snow in Minnesota, April 3 to 4, 2026

Name: Heavy Snow in Minnesota, April 3 to 4, 2026
Start: 2026-04-03T12:00
End: 2026-04-04T20:30
Location: Minnesota

April 3 to 4, 2026 · NWS FGF · 17 events in 17 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 17 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
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Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 17

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 FGF wrote it up.

A strong low pressure system developed over the Northern Plains and tracked across the Upper Midwest. This brought a series of heavy snow bands to eastern ND and Northwest MN from the afternoon of April 3 through the evening of April 4. A large swath of heavy snow was reported across northwest Minnesota, with highest values 10 to 17 inches.

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 Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 2, 5:47 PM CST, 18 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 2, 5:47 PM CST, 18 hours 13 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

17 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, West Otter Tail

When: April 3, 12:00 PM CST to April 4, 4:00 PM CST
Where: West Otter Tail forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 46.409, -95.708 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Public report at 3 WNW Vergas, MN of 12 inches of measured snow for this episode and another public report of 9 inches of snow measured at 2 NNW Dunvilla, MN. Based on NOHRSC analysis at least 6 inches or more fell across northwest Otter Tail County with the highest values closer to the Becker County MN line represented by these reports.

Heavy Snow, East Otter Tail

When: April 3, 12:00 PM CST to April 4, 5:30 PM CST
Where: East Otter Tail forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 46.409, -95.708 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Measured snow report of 8 inches at CO-OP Observer station OTTM5 Ottertail MN for the storm total. CO-OP Observer station NYMM5 New York Mills MN measured 6.5 inches for the winter storm.

Heavy Snow, Clay

When: April 3, 1:00 PM CST to April 4, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Clay forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 46.892, -96.491 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cocorahs stations MN-CY-41 Moorhead MN 6.1 NNW, MN-CY-45 Rollag 4.6 S, and MN-CY-20 Hawley MN 5.2 WNW all measured a storm total snow of 12.8 inches.

Heavy Snow, West Becker

When: April 3, 1:00 PM CST to April 4, 4:00 PM CST
Where: West Becker forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 46.935, -95.674 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Measured storm total snow of 12.0 inches by public at Audubon, MN which was the highest measurement in western Becker County for the storm. Cocorahs station MN-BK-15 Lake Park MN 9.9 S measured 11.7 inches for the storm. CO-OP Observer station DRTM5 1NNE Detroit Lakes MN measured 8.2 inches of snow for the storm.

Heavy Snow, East Becker

When: April 3, 1:00 PM CST to April 4, 5:30 PM CST
Where: East Becker forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 46.935, -95.674 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Measured storm total snow of 11.0 inches at Ponsford, MN in eastern Becker County, MN. There was another public report of 6 inches of snow measured at Wolf Lake, MN at 0800 CST on April 4 with the snow still falling, which was not a storm total for that location.

Heavy Snow, Norman

When: April 3, 2:00 PM CST to April 4, 3:30 PM CST
Where: Norman forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 47.327, -96.455 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Measured storm total snow of 12.1 inches at Cocorahs station MN-NR-1 Twin Valley MN 0.1 NE located in southeast Norman County MN. Cocorahs station MN-NR-5 Shelly MN 0.2 SW measured 10.0 inches of snow for the storm in northwest Norman County MN.

Heavy Snow, Mahnomen

When: April 3, 2:00 PM CST to April 4, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Mahnomen forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 47.325, -95.809 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Measured storm total of 15.0 inches of snow by CO-OP observer station MHNM5 Mahnomen MN.

Heavy Snow, South Clearwater

When: April 3, 2:00 PM CST to April 4, 6:00 PM CST
Where: South Clearwater forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 47.578, -95.379 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Measured storm total snowfall of 8.0 inches by CO-OP observer station ITAM5 Lake Itasca MN 2 SSE. There was a public report 7.0 inches of snow measured 4 S of Bagley.

Heavy Snow, West Polk

When: April 3, 2:00 PM CST to April 4, 2:30 PM CST
Where: West Polk forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 47.774, -96.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

An estimated report of at least 8 inches of snowfall was reported by the public at Crookston, MN. Based on NOHRSC analysis 6 to 8 inches likely fell from Crookston and across southwest Polk County.

Heavy Snow, East Polk

When: April 3, 2:30 PM CST to April 4, 3:30 PM CST
Where: East Polk forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 47.774, -96.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A storm total snow measurement of 13.0 inches was reported by the public at Fertile, MN. Additional measured reports by the public of 11.0 inches of storm total snow was reported from Fosston, MN. Cocorahs station MN-PK-2 Erksine MN 7.6 SSW measured 9.0 inches of snow for the storm.

Heavy Snow, North Clearwater

When: April 3, 3:00 PM CST to April 4, 3:00 PM CST
Where: North Clearwater forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 47.578, -95.379 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Public report relayed by broadcast media of 6.5 inches of measured snow at 8am CST. This was not a storm total.

Heavy Snow, Red Lake

When: April 3, 3:00 PM CST to April 4, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Red Lake forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 47.872, -96.095 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Nearby reports and observations in forecast zones surrounding Red Lake County, along with NOHRSC analysis, indicates that 6 to 8 inches of snowfall fell across the county.

Heavy Snow, Pennington

When: April 3, 4:00 PM CST to April 4, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Pennington forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 48.066, -96.037 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Measured snowfall of 6.5 inches for the storm by Cocorahs station MN-PG-3 Goodridge MN 7.4 SW.

Heavy Snow, Lake of the Woods

When: April 3, 5:00 PM CST to April 4, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Lake of the Woods forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 48.771, -94.905 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Storm total snow of 6.5 inches measured at Williams, MN.

Heavy Snow, Wilkin

When: April 3, 6:00 PM CST to April 4, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Wilkin forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 46.357, -96.468 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cocorahs station MN-WK-5 Wolverton MN 1.1 ENE measured 8 inches of snow, while Cocorahs station MN-WK-7 Rothsay MN 9.1 WNW measured 7 inches of snow. Based on NOHRSC analysis this represents what fell across the northern half of Wilkin County.

Heavy Snow, South Beltrami

When: April 3, 8:00 PM CST to April 4, 8:30 PM CST
Where: South Beltrami forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 47.974, -94.938 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cocorahs station MN-BM-48 Tenstrike 9.0 NW measured 15.0 inches of snow, which was their storm total. CO-OP Observer station BJIM5 Bemidji MN 4 NE measured 11.0 inches of snow, which was the storm total for that site.

Heavy Snow, North Beltrami

When: April 3, 9:00 PM CST to April 4, 8:30 PM CST
Where: North Beltrami forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 47.974, -94.938 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Storm total snow measurement of 10.0 inches at CO-OP Observer station THRM5 Grygla MN 18 ESE. A trained spotter at Shooks, MN measured 8.5 inches at 09:27am CST on April 4, which was not a storm total for the event at that location.

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

Every storm in Minnesota in 2026 Every state in 2026 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, April 2026

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1332072, 1332076, 1331162, 1332080, 1332081, 1332079, 1332082, 1332084, 1332092, 1332093, 1332083, 1332094, 1332091, 1332087, 1331163, 1332096, 1332095.