Record-breaking snowfall hits Minneapolis, leading to hundreds of flight delays and cancelations
A strong snowstorm hit Minneapolis on March 24, 2024, and continued into the night, making it the season’s largest snowfall. Snow transitioned into rain by Monday morning, leading to almost 500 flight delays and cancelations at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
The airport reported 20.9 cm (8.2 inches) of snow, setting a new record for the season and surpassing the previous highest snowfall of 17.5 cm (6.9 inches) recorded on Valentine’s Day.
The snowstorm broke the daily snowfall record for March 24 but also increased the season’s total snowfall at the airport to 65 cm (25.6 inches), which is only 55% of the historical winter average. Before this storm, the winter season had seen relatively low snowfall totals, with only 36.3 cm (14.3 inches) recorded, compared to the average of 116.8 cm (46 inches).
On Tuesday morning, March 26, meteorologists at the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Twin Cities urged drivers to be on the lookout for icy roads as temperatures fall below freezing and rain changes to a wintry mix and snow. “Rain transitions to sleet and then snow from west to East across eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin… plan for a slow morning commute, with potential slick travel persisting into this evening.”
Be on the lookout for icy roads this morning as temperatures fall below freezing and rain changes over to a wintry mix and snow. Please drive slowly and with caution #mnwx #wiwx pic.twitter.com/NIzCajlW2E
— NWS Twin Cities (@NWSTwinCities) March 26, 2024
Snow is continuing this morning, with highest totals falling in the NE metro – we've included a zoomed in photo to show a little more detail for the metro. Multiple accidents have been popping up as the snow settles in – check 511mn and 511wi for the latest updates! #mnwx #wiwx pic.twitter.com/4bTWr2jDe0
— NWS Twin Cities (@NWSTwinCities) March 26, 2024
“Heavy snow and blizzard conditions associated with a deep mid-latitude cyclone impacting the Northern/Central Plains and Upper Midwest will come to an end today,” NWS forecaster Kebede noted on March 26.
Additional snowfall accumulations of 5 to 10 cm (2 – 4 inches) are expected across eastern Minnesota by Wednesday morning, March 27, when the system is forecast to move into Ontario/southern Canada.
A frigid airmass will continue to spread across the Great Plains today and Wednesday behind a cold front. Highs will be 8 to 14 °C (15 – 25 °F) below average for much of the Plains today. Temperatures will moderate later this week, Kebede said.
Rain showers and scattered to isolated thunderstorm activity are likely east of the Mississippi River today. Storms will organize along a pair of cold fronts associated with two separate low pressure systems; the Upper Midwest system and the Gulf Coast system.
As a result, the Storm Prediction Center issued a Slight Risk of Severe Thunderstorms (level 2/5) for parts of the southern Great Lakes and for portions of the Gulf Coast today. Damaging wind gusts will be the main threat for both areas, but a brief tornado can’t be ruled out over the Gulf Coast.
The Gulf system is forecasted to stall out over the Southeast/Florida panhandle this afternoon/evening leading to potentially heavy rainfall occurring particularly over the Florida panhandle. Significant moisture return from the Gulf will interact with the slow-moving cold front, which will produce an axis of 50 to 100 mm (2 – 4 inches) of rain from northern Florida through the Southeast coast on Wednesday.
A Slight Risk (at least 15%) of Excessive Rainfall leading to Flash Flooding is in effect for parts of north-central Florida into southern Georgia.
Meanwhile, a deep low pressure system will bring another round of unsettled weather to the Northwest beginning on Wednesday. Low-elevation rain and mountain snow are expected from this system. Accumulating snow should remain confined to the higher elevations of the Cascades, Sierra Nevada, and Northern Rockies. Some 25 to 50 mm (1 – 2 inches) 24-hour rainfall totals pose a Marginal Risk (at least 5%) of Excessive Rainfall leading to Flash Flooding over parts of northern California into the southern Oregon coastline.
References:
1 Record snowfall in Minneapolis as massive storm brings up to 24 inches to Northern Plains – AccuWeather – March 25/26, 2024
2 Short Range Forecast Discussion – NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD – 400 AM EDT Tue Mar 26 2024
Featured image credit: NWS Twin Cities
Clickbait! Come on guys, don’t stoop to crappy sensationalism to pull extra views, you should never be using “Record Breaking” for merely the deepest snow of the “Season”! Plus, on March 26th, isn’t the season just a few days old? Really?
Sorry on the slightly biting remark, but I used to respect your site for publishing important aspects of the world. Now with these sensationalism titles to gain views like so many other news sites has eroded that respect and I am on the verge of just forgetting your website. Friends tell friends when they are doing something wrong.