Nature & Environment
May Snow 18 Inches: Rare Snowstorm Hits Midwest Hard
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: May 03, 2013 02:12 PM EDT
We might have hoped that winter weather had finally left this spring's forecaster, but unfortunately, for parts of the Midwest, this was not the case.
A May snow storm that brought over 18 inches of the white fluffy stuff broke with a record number of inches in a Minnesota town.
According to Twincities.com, 18 inches fell on Blooming Prairie this week alone, while more than a foot of snow fell over southeastern Missouri, central Wisconsin and northern Iowa. Other cities nearby also received as much as up to 15 inches of snow.
"The northernmost areas have seen snow in May before, but not of this magnitude," Jim Keeney, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, according to Reuters. Keeney added that the snow was very heavy and wet, contributing to several power outages, road closures and downed trees.
"It was probably the sharpest cutoff from heavy snow to nothing that you will ever see besides like in the mountains," said Chris Franks, according to the Minneapolis Star-Trbiune. He added the snow was "three to four times their all-time May record."
"For perspective, the Twin Cities record for a May snow event is 3 inches," Franks said. "This absolutely was a historic storm."
The Minnesota Department of Transportation said that travel in much of southeastern Minnesota is not advised, according to USA Today.
The same storm system also dumped 18 inches in Larimer County in Colorado.
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First Posted: May 03, 2013 02:12 PM EDT
We might have hoped that winter weather had finally left this spring's forecaster, but unfortunately, for parts of the Midwest, this was not the case.
A May snow storm that brought over 18 inches of the white fluffy stuff broke with a record number of inches in a Minnesota town.
According to Twincities.com, 18 inches fell on Blooming Prairie this week alone, while more than a foot of snow fell over southeastern Missouri, central Wisconsin and northern Iowa. Other cities nearby also received as much as up to 15 inches of snow.
"The northernmost areas have seen snow in May before, but not of this magnitude," Jim Keeney, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, according to Reuters. Keeney added that the snow was very heavy and wet, contributing to several power outages, road closures and downed trees.
"It was probably the sharpest cutoff from heavy snow to nothing that you will ever see besides like in the mountains," said Chris Franks, according to the Minneapolis Star-Trbiune. He added the snow was "three to four times their all-time May record."
"For perspective, the Twin Cities record for a May snow event is 3 inches," Franks said. "This absolutely was a historic storm."
The Minnesota Department of Transportation said that travel in much of southeastern Minnesota is not advised, according to USA Today.
The same storm system also dumped 18 inches in Larimer County in Colorado.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone