The snowstorm of March 23 to 25, 2011

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

252

Deaths

1

Injuries

0

Damage

$3.9 million

Episodes

28

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.

• Blizzard and Winter Storm in North Dakota, March 22 to 23, 201146 eventsAn upper level trough swinging into the Northern Plains, combined with a strong low pressure system ejecting out of the Rockies and into the Central Plains, resulted in heavy snow and blizzard conditions across much of west and central North Dakota.
• Winter Storm in Minnesota, March 22 to 23, 201116 eventsAn area of surface low pressure tracked from Nebraska on the 22nd into northern Illinois by the morning of the 23rd. A variety of weather conditions occurred to the north of the surface low.
• Winter Storm in North Dakota, March 22 to 23, 201111 eventsAn area of surface low pressure tracked from Nebraska on the 22nd into northern Illinois by the morning of the 23rd. A variety of weather conditions occurred to the north of the surface low.
• Winter Storm in Minnesota, March 22 to 23, 201128 eventsA powerful storm system developed across the central Plains late Monday evening, and moved northeast across the Midwest and slowed down.
• Heavy Snow in Minnesota, March 22 to 23, 20114 eventsDeepening low pressure over Colorado on the morning of March 22nd went straight east, reaching the Chicago area on the morning of March 23rd.
• Heavy Snow in Minnesota, March 22 to 23, 20112 eventsHeavy snow of 6 to 13 inches fell across west central Minnesota causing travel problems along with school and event cancellations. Some snowfall amounts include, 6 inches at Browns Valley; 8 inches at Artichoke Lake and White Rock; and 13 inches at Ortonville.
• Winter Storm in Wisconsin, March 22 to 23, 2011$3.0 million · 7 eventsA powerful storm system developed across the central Plains late Monday evening, and moved northeast across the Midwest and slowed down.
• Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, March 22 to 23, 20117 eventsDeepening low pressure over Colorado on the morning of March 22nd went straight east, reaching the Chicago area on the morning of March 23rd.
• Heavy Snow in Michigan, March 22 to 23, 201117 eventsStrong low pressure moved east from Nebraska, passing just south of Michigan on the 23rd. Heavy snow moved north into Northern Lower Michigan on the night of the 22nd, and persisted in spots into the afternoon of the 23rd.
• Winter Storm and Lightning Strike in Wisconsin, March 22 to 23, 2011$566,000 · 19 eventsA low pressure system that moved across northern Illinois from Iowa received plenty of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.
• Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Michigan, March 22 to 23, 2011$80,000 · 11 eventsA strong low pressure system tracked through the Western Great Lakes, allowing a strong warm front to lift north into Southeast Michigan, resulting in a mixed bag of precipitation.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Michigan, March 22 to 23, 201114 eventsA winter storm impacted most of Southwest Lower Michigan from near Interstate 96 northward from late afternoon of March 22nd into the early afternoon hours of March 23rd. Areas north and east of a line from Baldwin to Alma had between 6 and 12 inches of snow.
• Winter Storm in Wisconsin, March 22 to 23, 20112 eventsAn early spring storm system tracked out of the lower Plains States to the lower Great Lakes Region from the 22nd through the 23rd of March. This system produced heavy snow across portions of north central Wisconsin with 12 inches reported at Chelsea (Taylor County).
• Heavy Snow in South Dakota, March 22 to 23, 20117 eventsAn upper level low pressure area moving across the region brought 6 to 14 inches of snowfall across northeast South Dakota.
• Winter Weather in Wisconsin, March 22, 20111 death · $2,000 · 1 eventRain fell across much of southwest Wisconsin during the evening of the 22nd and in some locations temperatures dipped below freezing to create icy roads. One fatality occurred on State Highway 27 in the southern part of Vernon County.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, March 22 to 24, 20117 eventsA protracted winter storm affected the Poconos from around Midnight on the 23rd into the early morning on the 24th and brought two shots of wintry weather during the early morning and overnight on the 23rd.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Michigan, March 22 to 23, 20113 eventsLow pressure tracking eastward through the Lower Great Lakes brought significant heavy wet snow to south central Upper Michigan.
• Winter Weather in Minnesota, March 22 to 23, 20112 eventsSnow produced generally light accumulations in the area north of Interstate 90, but accumulated up to 5 inches in Lyon County Minnesota at Marshall.
• Winter Storm in Pennsylvania, March 23, 20115 eventsA low pressure system and its associated warm front brought heavy snow to north-central and northeast Pennsylvania during the predawn hours. The snow changed over to freezing rain and sleet by the mid morning.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in New Jersey, March 23 to 24, 20117 eventsA protracted winter storm affected northwest New Jersey from just after Midnight on the 23rd into the early morning on the 24th and brought two shots of wintry weather during the early morning and overnight on the 23rd.
• Winter Storm in Pennsylvania, March 23, 20117 eventsAn area of low pressure moved east through the central United States with a warm front stretching across the Ohio Valley. Cold air combined with significant moisture to bring widespread snow to northeast Pennsylvania during the morning hours of March 23rd.
• Winter Storm in New York, March 23, 20113 eventsAn area of low pressure moved east through the central United States with a warm front stretching across the Ohio Valley.
• Heavy Snow in New York, March 23, 2011$300,000 · 4 eventsLow pressure moved east from Iowa across western Pennsylvania to the mid-Atlantic Coast. The low brought a blanket of seven to nine inches of heavy, wet snow to parts of western New York. The snow resulted in slick roads and numerous motor vehicle accidents.
• Heavy Snow in California, March 23 to 25, 20113 eventsA cold winter storm dropped significant snowfall amounts over Northwest California. This resulted in chain restrictions on the higher elevation roads.
• Winter Storm in California, March 23 to 26, 20118 eventsA cold winter storm brought up to three feet of new snow to the highest elevations and lesser amounts down into the Sierra Nevada foothills.
• Winter Weather in Nebraska, March 24 to 25, 20115 eventsStarting during the late evening hours on Thursday the 24th, but primarily during the pre-dawn hours on Friday the 25th, a quick-hitting low pressure system brought an average of 3 to 5 inches of wet, slushy snow to northern portions of South Central Nebraska, primarily…
• Heavy Snow in South Dakota, March 25 to 26, 20112 eventsA storm system moved across the Central Rockies and Central Plains, bringing snow to western South Dakota. Most of western South Dakota received two to five inches of snow.
• Winter Weather in Illinois, March 26, 20114 eventsA late season snowfall blanketed parts of southern Illinois. Anywhere from 1 to 3 inches of wet snow fell along and north of Interstate 64.

The snowstorm of February 24 to 27, 2011The snowstorm of April 15 to 17, 2011Snow nowEvery winter storm filed

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