February 28 - March 2, 2007 Winter Storm

The snow was not the only problem with this storm as strong northwest winds buffeted the region producing blowing and drifting snow that closed most roads for a time across southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa. Near white-out conditions also occurred for short periods in the open rural areas.

Snow continued to fall into Friday, March 2nd as the storm moved into eastern Wisconsin and eventually across Lake Michigan. Drifting snow continued to be a problem but the blowing snow and near white-out conditions subsided as the winds slowly decreased. The storm finally released its grip on the region Friday night.

This snowfall combined with the snow that fell from February 23-26 created a blanket of snow ranging in depth from around a foot up to two and a half feet. These two storms also put La Crosse into the record books with the most snow ever recorded over a 7 day period. The top three snowiest 7 day periods for La Crosse are:

The second major winter storm in less than a week took aim at the upper Midwest and delivered two rounds of winter precipitation to the area as the calendar turned to March. The storm took shape over the southern Plains states Wednesday February 28th and then started to move northeast toward the area. As it did, the first round of precipitation moved into the region that afternoon. Light to at times moderate snow fell through Wednesday night with totals ranging from just a trace to around 3 inches. As the storm moved into Missouri Thursday March 1st, dry air began to wrap into the system and the precipitation become more scattered across the immediate region while a heavy snow band set up from eastern Nebraska and western Iowa into southwest and south central Minnesota. Along with the dry air, warm air aloft also spread over the area which created a mixed bag of winter precipitation. Light rain was common across parts of northeast Iowa into southwest Wisconsin where temperatures warmed above freezing. Farther north, temperatures remained below freezing setting the stage for snow, sleet and freezing rain to fall. Ice accumulations of 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch were reported from Wabasha and Winona counties in Minnesota and across parts of Trempealeau, Clark, Monroe and Adams counties in western and central Wisconsin. Temperatures once again fell below freezing across the entire Thursday night as the low slowly moved northeast into southern Wisconsin. This allowed all the precipitation to change back over to snow and some of this was quite heavy from southeast Minnesota into north central Wisconsin. Storm totals in excess of 10 inches were common in these areas.  

Storm Total Snowfall through Friday morning, March 2nd:

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
252 PM CST FRI MAR 2 2007

...WINTER STORM TOTAL SNOWFALLS THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING...
...FEBRUARY 28 THROUGH MARCH 2...

LOCATION   COUNTY      STATE   SNOWFALL

CLAREMONT          DODGE        MN      11.5
BYRON              OLMSTED      MN      11.2
ORONOCO            OLMSTED      MN      11.1
MANTORVILLE 1E     DODGE        MN      11.0
MONDOVI 6S         BUFFALO      WI      11.0
ROCHESTER AIRPORT  OLMSTED      WI      10.7
BYRON 3N           OLMSTED      MN      10.4
MCINTIRE 3E        HOWARD       IA      10.0
SPRING VALLEY      FILLMORE     MN      10.0
GRAND MEADOW       MOWER        MN       9.9
THEILMAN 1SSW      WABASHA      MN       9.7
DODGE CENTER       DODGE        MN       9.0
INDEPENDENCE 3NW   TREMPEALEAU  WI       9.0
READS LANDING 1W   WABASHA      MN       9.0
ZUMBRO FALLS       WABASHA      MN       8.9
SPILLVILLE         WINNESHIEK   IA       8.5
SPRING GROVE       HOUSTON      MN       8.5
ELGIN 2SSW         WABASHA      MN       8.3
OWEN 2N            CLARK        WI       8.3
NEW HAMPTON        CHICKASAW    IA       8.0
UTICA              WINONA       MN       8.0
WARRENS 5WSW       MONROE       WI       8.0
CHASEBURG 2S       VERNON       WI       7.8
PRESTON            FILLMORE     MN       7.8
ALTURA 5W          WINONA       MN       7.4
LA CROSSE NWS      LA CROSSE    WI       7.2
OSAGE              MITCHELL     IA       7.1
CALEDONIA          HOUSTON      MN       7.0
CRESCO 1NE         HOWARD       IA       7.0
ELMA               HOWARD       IA       7.0
GALESVILLE 1S      TREMPEALEAU  WI       7.0
HAMMOND 1S         WABASHA      MN       7.0
OSSEO              TREMPEALEAU  WI       7.0
ROCK DAM           CLARK        WI       7.0
WABASHA            WABASHA      MN       7.0
BLAIR              TREMPEALEAU  WI       6.9
CHATFIELD 4W       FILLMORE     MN       6.5
WINONA             WINONA       MN       6.5
GOODRICH           TAYLOR       WI       6.0
HARMONY            FILLMORE     MN       6.0
LANSING 4SE        ALLAMAKEE    IA       6.0
RENO 3SW           HOUSTON      MN       6.0
WESTBORO           TAYLOR       WI       6.0
CALMAR             WINNESHIEK   IA       5.9
STODDARD 3NE       VERNON       WI       5.8
WESTBY             VERNON       WI       5.8
COLBY              CLARK        WI       5.6
HOLMEN 2S          LA CROSSE    WI       5.6
DORCHESTER         ALLAMAKEE    IA       5.5
ETTRICK            TREMPEALEAU  WI       5.5
TUNNEL CITY 1S     MONROE       WI       5.2
TAYLOR             JACKSON      WI       5.0
WEST SALEM         LA CROSSE    WI       5.0
VIROQUA            VENRON       WI       4.9
LA CROSSE          LA CROSSE    WI       4.8
CHARLES CITY       FLOYD        IA       4.7
BIG FLATS          ADAMS        WI       4.5
FORT ATKINSON      WINNESHIEK   IA       4.5
LA CRESCENT 1N     HOUSTON      MN       4.5
POSTVILLE          ALLAMAKEE    IA       4.0
COON VALLEY        VERNON       WI       3.5
OELWEIN 1E         FAYETTE      IA       3.3
ELKADER            CLAYTON      IA       3.0
HILLSBORO          VERNON       WI       2.8
MARQUETTE 3W       CLAYTON      IA       2.8
PLATTEVILLE        GRANT        WI       2.7
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN   CRAWFORD     WI       2.6
STEUBEN 4SE        CRAWFORD     WI       2.6
ELGIN              FAYETTE      IA       2.5
GAYS MILLS         CRAWFORD     WI       2.4
EDGEWOOD           CLAYTON      IA       2.0
VOLGA              CLAYTON      IA       2.0
ELKADER 6SSW       CLAYTON      IA       1.6
FAYETTE            FAYETTE      IA       1.6
RICHLAND CENTER    RICHLAND     WI       1.3
CUBA CITY          GRANT        WI       1.0
READSTOWN          VERNON       WI       1.0

OBSERVATIONS ARE COLLECTED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES WITH VARYING
EQUIPMENT AND EXPOSURE.  NOT ALL DATA LISTED IS CONSIDERED OFFICIAL.

$$

Ice reports from Thursday - March 1, 2007:

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
346 PM CST THU MAR 01 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0249 PM     ICE STORM        ARKDALE                 44.03N 89.88W
03/01/2007                   ADAMS              WI   PUBLIC

            1/8 INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION FROM FREEZING RAIN.

0249 PM     ICE STORM        FRIENDSHIP              43.97N 89.82W
03/01/2007                   ADAMS              WI   CO-OP OBSERVER

            1/8 INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION FROM FREEZING RAIN. GLAZE
            ICE.

0302 PM     ICE STORM        STRUM                   44.55N 91.39W
03/01/2007                   TREMPEALEAU        WI   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            1/8 INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION IN NORTHERN PART OF COUNTY.

0302 PM     ICE STORM        WINONA                  44.05N 91.66W
03/01/2007                   WINONA             MN   EMERGENCY MNGR

            1/4 INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION FROM SLEET AND FREEZING
            RAIN. SCHOOL BUSES NOT ABLE TO GET UP THE RIDGES.

0302 PM     ICE STORM        TOMAH                   43.99N 90.50W
03/01/2007                   MONROE             WI   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            1/8 INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION. CARS HAVING TROUBLE GETTING
            UP HILLS COUNTYWIDE.

0310 PM     ICE STORM        WABASHA                 44.37N 92.05W
03/01/2007                   WABASHA            MN   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            1/8 INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION THROUGH THE COUNTY. NO MAJOR
            PROBLEMS.

0310 PM     ICE STORM        NEILLSVILLE             44.56N 90.59W
03/01/2007                   CLARK              WI   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            1/8 INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION THROUGH CLARK COUNTY.


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