The snowstorm of April 9 to 12, 2019

The Regional Snowfall Index is NOAA’s ranking of snowstorms east of the Rockies by how much snow fell, over how wide an area and on how many people, region by region: the area and the population above four snowfall thresholds set for each region, weighted against that region’s own history. A storm is scored in each region it reached, on a scale from 1, notable, to 5, extreme.

Events

370

Deaths

1

Injuries

7

Damage

$16 million

Episodes

36

Every winter weather episode the Weather Service filed east of the Rockies in these dates. A few may belong to another system on the same days. 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.

• Heavy Snow in Maine, April 8 to 9, 20192 eventsLow pressure developing in the Gulf of Maine brought heavy snow to portions of northwest Maine. Snow developed during the afternoon of the 8th and persisted into the early morning hours of the 9th.
• Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Utah, April 9 to 11, 201953 kt wind · 11 eventsAnother winter storm brought snow to many valleys across Utah, with significant snow accumulations and strong winds in the mountains.
• Blizzard and Winter Storm in South Dakota, April 9 to 12, 201924 eventsAn intense spring storm system brought rain, snow, and gusty winds to the area. Rain developed during the late afternoon and night of April 9. Rain gradually switched over to snow across northwestern South Dakota and the Black Hills area during the overnight hours.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Wyoming, April 9 to 11, 20196 eventsA potent and wet spring storm system brought rain and areas of heavy snow to northeastern Wyoming. The heaviest snow fell across the Bear Lodge Mountains and parts of northern Campbell County, where eight to 16 inches of snow were reported, with locally higher amounts.
• Winter Storm in Wyoming, April 10 to 11, 20191 eventAn early Spring upper low moved across Wyoming bringing heavy snow to the Sheridan Foothills.
• Winter Weather in Iowa, April 10 to 11, 2019$25,000 · 1 eventA strong early spring storm system produced snow, sleet and freezing rain across northeast Iowa from April 10th into the 11th. Snowfall amounts generally ranged from 1 to 3 inches.
• Winter Storm and Wildfire in New Mexico, April 10 to 11, 2019$1.1 million · 67 kt wind · 33 eventsAnother widespread high wind event produced damage across parts of New Mexico on April 10, 2019 less than one month after a similar wind event in mid March.
• Blizzard and Winter Storm in Minnesota, April 10 to 12, 2019$275,000 · 36 eventsThere were multiple waves of precipitation that occurred with this major winter storm that lasted for more than two days.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Minnesota, April 10 to 11, 2019$2.9 million · 7 eventsA strong early spring storm system produced snow, sleet and freezing rain across southeast Minnesota from April 10th into the 11th. Snowfall amounts generally ranged from 3 to 7 inches.
• Blizzard and Ice Storm in South Dakota, April 10 to 12, 2019$5.0 million · 24 eventsA historic late-season, multi-day winter storm developed rapidly across the central Plains on Wednesday, April 10. This system spiraled several periods of wintry precipitation through the region.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Colorado, April 10 to 11, 201911 eventsA storm system produced heavy snow in the mountains, with moderate snowfall and strong gusty winds across the lower elevations. Peak wind gusts generally ranged from 35 to 55 mph and produced near blizzard conditions at times with areas of drifting snow and reduced visibility.
• Winter Weather in Wisconsin, April 10 to 11, 20191 death · 7 injured · 8 eventsLow pressure developed over Colorado and slowly tracked into western Iowa over a two-day period. Repeated bands of snow and mixed precipitation tracked through southern Wisconsin from Wednesday, April 10 through Thursday, April 11, 2019.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Wisconsin, April 10 to 11, 2019$390,000 · 8 eventsA strong early spring storm system produced snow, sleet and freezing rain across western Wisconsin from April 10th into the 11th. Snowfall amounts generally ranged from 5 to 10 inches.
• Winter Storm in Wisconsin, April 10 to 11, 20196 eventsThere were multiple waves of precipitation that occurred with this major winter storm that lasted for more than two days.
• Blizzard and Winter Storm in Nebraska, April 10 to 11, 20199 eventsA rapid strengthening Colorado Low in the lee of the Rockies coupled with a deepening shortwave trough and jet support gave the ingredients to again produce widespread snow across the Nebraska Panhandle. Much of Interstate 80 was closed due to adverse winter weather conditions.
• Blizzard and Winter Storm in Wyoming, April 10 to 11, 20196 eventsA rapid strengthening Colorado Low in the lee of the Rockies coupled with a deepening shortwave trough and jet support gave the ingredients to again produce widespread snow across southeastern Wyoming.
• Blizzard and Ice Storm in Minnesota, April 10 to 11, 2019$5.8 million · 8 eventsA historic late-season, multi-day winter storm developed rapidly across the central Plains on Wednesday, April 10. This system spiraled several periods of precipitation through the region.
• Ice Storm in Iowa, April 10 to 11, 2019$371,000 · 4 eventsA historic late-season, multi-day winter storm developed rapidly across the central Plains on Wednesday, April 10. This system spiraled several periods of precipitation through the region.
• Winter Storm in Wisconsin, April 10 to 12, 201917 eventsA strong low pressure system over the Plains moved across northwest Wisconsin on its way to Quebec. The system brought heavy snow, freezing rain, and gusty winds to central and northern Wisconsin. Thunderstorms and some sleet were also reported in parts of central Wisconsin.
• Winter Storm in Nebraska, April 10 to 11, 201922 eventsA powerful storm system produced winter storm conditions across most of western and north central Nebraska. Snowfall amounts ranged from 4 inches to 8 inches across much of the area, with some areas receiving as much as 10 to 16 inches.
• Heavy Snow in Minnesota, April 10 to 12, 201915 eventsA strong early April Colorado Low took shape over the Central Plains late Wednesday afternoon, April 10th. The surface low tracked nearly straight northward on Thursday, April 11th, reaching the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, area late in the afternoon.
• Heavy Snow in North Dakota, April 10 to 12, 20198 eventsA strong early April Colorado Low took shape over the Central Plains late Wednesday afternoon, April 10th. The surface low tracked nearly straight northward on Thursday, April 11th, reaching the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, area late in the afternoon.
• Blizzard in Minnesota, April 10 to 12, 20196 eventsFrom Thursday night into Friday, April 12th, the low finally turned northeast and tracked toward Duluth. Wind speeds were not intensely strong during this blizzard event, as most sites only gusted into the 40 to 45 mph range.
• Winter Storm and Hail in Nebraska, April 10 to 11, 2019$50,000 · 1.75 in hail · 18 eventsDuring roughly an 18-hour period from the evening of Wednesday the 10th through the early afternoon of Thursday the 11th, much of South Central Nebraska observed a fairly classic clash of the seasons (spring versus winter).
• Blizzard and Hail in Kansas, April 10 to 11, 20190.88 in hail · 3 eventsDuring the afternoon the warm side of a winter storm system moved across Northwest Kansas. Hail up to nickel size was reported at Angelus, with slightly smaller hail reported near Grinnell. Pea size hail was reported in Greeley, Logan, Thomas, Graham and Norton counties.
• Blizzard and Winter Storm in North Dakota, April 10 to 12, 20199 eventsStrong low pressure moved from Colorado into the Central Plains before shifting northward into the Upper Midwest. As the storm lifted northward snow spread across much of southern and eastern North Dakota.
• Blizzard in Nebraska, April 10 to 11, 20192 eventsDuring the overnight and into the morning hours blizzard conditions were reported in Hitchcock and Red Willow counties as a somewhat small area of heavier snow and stronger winds moved over the two counties.
• Blizzard in South Dakota, April 11 to 12, 201926 eventsA historic blizzard affected all of central and northeast South Dakota from April 11th into the 12th. The storm came in two waves.
• Blizzard and Winter Weather in Nebraska, April 11, 20193 eventsAnother very strong spring storm moved through the Plains bringing rain, severe thunderstorms, and heavy snow to the region. Highest snowfall amounts were in northeast Nebraska, with a rain/snow mix along Interstate 80, but little accumulation this far south.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Michigan, April 11 to 12, 201912 eventsA Plains storm system tracking into the Great Lakes brought moderate to heavy snow and sleet to the west half of Upper Michigan on the 11th.
• Blizzard in Minnesota, April 11 to 12, 20192 eventsA historic blizzard affected west central Minnesota from April 11th to the 12th. The storm came in two waves. The first wave brought a band of moderate to heavy snow as it lifted from south to north across the region during the morning hours of the 10th.
• Blizzard in Colorado, April 11, 20191 eventDuring the morning blizzard conditions were reported across Yuma County as strong winds caused the blowing snow to reduce visibilities to a quarter mile or less. The visibility was so poor that many people living outside of Yuma could not drive to work.
• Heavy Snow in Minnesota, April 11 to 13, 201913 eventsAn area of low pressure developed in the lee of the Rockies late on the 10th and then slowly moved northeast on the 11th before passing over the Northland on the 12th.
• Blizzard in North Dakota, April 11 to 12, 20195 eventsFrom Thursday night into Friday, April 12th, the low finally turned northeast and tracked toward Duluth. Wind speeds were not intensely strong during this blizzard event, as most sites only gusted into the 40 to 45 mph range.
• Blizzard in Alaska, April 11 to 13, 20192 eventsStrong high pressure centered over the eastern Beaufort Sea combined with low pressure stretched across the Arctic Coastal plain resulted in persistent easterly winds gusting 40 to 60 mph along the eastern Arctic coast.
• Heavy Snow in New Mexico, April 12 to 13, 20191 eventA storm system moved slowly east across northern New Mexico on April 13, 2019 and delivered scattered showers and thunderstorms with high terrain snow.

The snowstorm of March 12 to 14, 2019The snowstorm of September 28 to 30, 2019Snow nowEvery winter storm filed

NOAA NCEI Regional Snowfall Index, and the Storm Events Database for the episodes.