The snowstorm of March 30 to April 2, 2009

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

260

Deaths

6

Injuries

7

Damage

$3.5 million

Episodes

39

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.

• Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Idaho, March 28 to 30, 20096 eventsNine inthes to two feet of snow were common in high elevations and winds with the heavy snow caused road closures on both interstate 15 and interstate 84.
• Heavy Snow in Washington, March 28 to 29, 20091 eventUp to 6 inches of snow fell in the Cascade foothills, mainly between Eatonville and Enumclaw.
• Winter Storm in Montana, March 28 to 30, 200916 eventsA Pacific storm system along with associated surface low pressure over Wyoming brought heavy snow and gusty winds to a large portion of North Central Montana. Snowfall amounts in excess of 6 inches along with wind gusts greater than 25 mph were reported.
• Heavy Snow in Michigan, March 29, 20096 eventsAn occluding low pressure system moved from Missouri to Lake Huron, producing a burst of wintry precipitation across Northern Michigan, centered on daybreak of the 29th.
• Winter Weather in Illinois, March 29, 20094 eventsAn area of low pressure tracked form the lower Mississippi River Valley into the eastern Great Lakes on March 29th, bringing a swath of snow across west-central Illinois.
• Winter Weather in Michigan, March 29, 20092 eventsA low pressure system from the southern Plains lifted north through the Lower Great Lakes bringing moderate snow to portions of eastern Upper Michigan on the 29th.
• Extreme Cold in Alaska, March 29, 20091 eventTemperatures of 25 to 30 below combined with a northeast wind of 20 to 30 mph to produce wind chills as low as 64 below at Point Lay and 61 below at Atqasuk during the morning and early afternoon hours on the 29th.
• Winter Storm and High Wind in Utah, March 29 to 30, 2009$125,000 · 66 kt wind · 9 eventsA strong winter storm produced heavy snowfall over the Wasatch Range, while the associated cold front brought strong winds to much of the state of Utah.
• Blizzard and Heavy Snow in North Dakota, March 29 to 31, 200929 eventsA significant and complex spring storm impacted southwest and south central North Dakota beginning Sunday, March 29th, and lasting into Tuesday, March 31st. Winter storm warnings and blizzard warnings were posted well in advance of the storm.
• Blizzard and Winter Storm in Wyoming, March 29 to 30, 20092 eventsA second major snowstorm and blizzard within a weeks time brought heavy snow and strong winds to portions of Southern Montana and Northern Wyoming. This storm impacted areas that were hit hard by the March 23-24 storm.
• Winter Storm in Minnesota, March 29 to 31, 200917 eventsA Colorado Low took shape over northeast Colorado on Monday morning (30th), then tracked slowly to the northeast, reaching the arrowhead of Minnesota by Wednesday morning (April 1st).
• Winter Storm in North Dakota, March 29 to 31, 20097 eventsA Colorado Low took shape over northeast Colorado on Monday morning (30th), then tracked slowly to the northeast, reaching the arrowhead of Minnesota by Wednesday morning (April 1st).
• Blizzard in Alaska, March 29, 20091 eventA 964 mb low in Bristol Bay at 4 am on the 29th lifted to the north and weakened to 977 mb across the Yukon Delta by the evening hours of the 30th.
• Heavy Snow in Alaska, March 29, 20091 eventA strong low moves from the central Aleutain Islands to Southwest Alaska. The associated front band moved across the central gulf and swept into Southeast Alaska panhandle.
• Blizzard in South Dakota, March 30 to 31, 2009$3.3 million · 14 eventsThe second blizzard in a week brought heavy snow and strong winds to the western South Dakota plains. Northwest wind gusts to 50 mph produced significant blowing and drifting snow, reducing visibilities to near zero for many hours.
• Winter Storm in South Dakota, March 30 to 31, 2009$70,000 · 10 eventsThe second strong spring storm in a week brought heavy snow and gusty winds to the Black Hills and southwestern South Dakota plains. Snowfall across the plains and southern Black Hills was in the six to 12 inch range.
• Blizzard in South Dakota, March 30 to 31, 200926 eventsA major winter storm moved across the Northern Rockies and into the Northern Plains producing from 2 to 22 inches of snowfall along with widespread blizzard conditions. Most area schools and events were canceled. Travel was extremely difficult and not advised.
• Heavy Snow in Maine, March 30, 20092 eventsCold air wrapping around low pressure crossing the Gulf of Maine allowed rain to transition to snow across northern Aroostook county. The transition to snow occurred during the early morning hours of the 30th...with snow then continuing through the afternoon.
• Winter Storm in Wyoming, March 30 to 31, 20092 eventsThe second strong spring storm in a week brought heavy snow and gusty winds to the Wyoming Black Hills and adjacent plains. Snowfall amounts were six to 12 inches, with higher amounts over the Wyoming Black Hills.
• Winter Weather in Colorado, March 30, 20095 deaths · 5 injured · 3 eventsA band of heavy snow, induced by a strong upper level jetstream, wreaked havoc on the morning commute in Denver, as well as area north and east of the Denver area. The snow was heaviest on the east side of the Denver metro area where storm totals ranged from 2 to 5 inches.
• Winter Weather in New Mexico, March 30, 20091 death · 2 injured · 1 eventAn Illinois man died when two vehicles crashed on Interstate 40, 12 miles west of Gallup. The freeway was coated with slush and ice from an overnight light snow event.
• Blizzard and Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 30 to 31, 20096 eventsA strong spring storm system brought heavy snowfall of 3 to 8 inches along with strong northwest winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts over 50 mph to portions of north central Nebraska.
• Blizzard and Winter Weather in South Dakota, March 30 to 31, 200921 eventsHeavy snow accompanied by winds gusting to over 40 mph produced blizzard conditions over southeast South Dakota away from the eastern border of the state. The blizzard began on the evening of March 30th and continued through the daytime hours of March 31st.
• Blizzard in Minnesota, March 30 to 31, 20092 eventsA major winter storm moved across the Northern Rockies and into the Northern Plains producing from 6 to 11 inches of snowfall across west central Minnesota along with widespread blizzard conditions. Most area schools and events were canceled.
• Heavy Snow in Washington, March 30 to 31, 20092 eventsA Pacific frontal system produced heavy snow in the Northern and Central Cascades. Snowfall was enhanced somewhat by a Puget Sound Convergence Zone.
• Winter Storm in Minnesota, March 31, 200913 eventsA broad and slow moving low pressure system brought a prolonged period of snow to northeast Minnesota. The snow began early in the morning and became heavy during the day, with snowfall rates of over 1 inch per hour.
• Winter Storm in Minnesota, March 31, 20099 eventsA very complex, but fast moving storm system provided a variety of weather elements across southern and central Minnesota late Monday night, and into Tuesday morning March 31.
• Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 31, 20092 eventsAn early spring storm brought strong winds and near-blizzard conditions to sections of northeast Nebraska the last day of March 2009.
• Winter Storm in Utah, March 31, 20092 eventsOne last winter storm arrived in Utah on the last day of March, bringing heavy snow and gusty winds to the Wasatch Mountains. Note that this episode continued into April.
• Winter Storm in Minnesota, April 1, 200912 eventsA broad and slow moving low pressure system brought a prolonged period of snow to northeast Minnesota. The snow began early in the morning March 31 and became heavy during the day, with snowfall rates of over 1 inch per hour.
• Winter Storm in Minnesota, April 1, 20095 eventsThis storm began on March 30th, finally ending in the early morning hours of April 1st.
• Heavy Snow in Idaho, April 1, 20094 eventsAn early spring snowstorm brought heavy snowfall to the mountains of extreme eastern Idaho. The heaviest amounts ranged from 10 to 16 inches.
• Winter Storm and High Wind in Utah, April 1, 200963 kt wind · 3 eventsA winter storm arrived in Utah on the last day of March and continued into April, bringing heavy snow and gusty winds to the Wasatch Mountains. The associated cold front also brought gusty winds to the west deserts of Utah. Note that this episode began in March.
• Heavy Snow in Oregon, April 1 to 3, 20091 eventA late season cold trough and associated frontal system brought snow to the Cascades of northwest Oregon.
• Heavy Snow in Washington, April 1 to 2, 20092 eventsA long-lasting Puget Sound Convergence Zone produced heavy snow in the Northern and Central Cascades, mainly in the vicinity of Stevens Pass.
• Winter Weather in Kansas, April 2, 20098 eventsA late season snowfall event brought two to six inches of snow to portions of north central and northeast Kansas the morning of April 2nd, with snowfall accumulations generally north of Interstate 70, north of a line from Ottawa to Brown Counties.
• Heavy Snow in Idaho, April 2 to 3, 20091 eventHeavy snow fell in the Upper Snake River Highlands. 6 to 12 inches were widespread.
• Heavy Snow in Utah, April 2 to 4, 20095 eventsA moist winter storm brought heavy snow to the higher terrain of Utah, with most of the precipitation in the valleys falling as moderate to heavy rain.
• Winter Storm in Wyoming, April 2 to 4, 20092 eventsA Pacific storm system moved across the mountains of South Central Montana bringing periods of heavy snow. The storm moved slowly across Northern Wyoming and Southeast Montana resulting in a period of prolonged snowfall.

The snowstorm of March 27 to 30, 2009The snowstorm of April 4 to 7, 2009Snow nowEvery winter storm filed

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