Overview
An early season winter storm brought heavy snow to portions of North Dakota and northwest Minnesota between October 25-27, 2023. Significant snow accumulations between 6 and 18 inches fell in portions of the Devils Lake basin, northern Red River Valley, into northwest Minnesota.
Sufficiently heavy snow rates and accumulating snow onto area roadways contributed to widespread hazardous travel conditions, mainly from snow covered and icy roadways. Additionally, the heavy, wet nature of snowfall contributed to tree damage since many trees still held onto their foliage as is typical in October.
Snow
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| Event Total Snow 10/25-27/2023 |
Public Information Statement National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 104 PM CDT Fri Oct 27 2023 ...SNOWFALL REPORTS... Location Amount Time/Date Lat/Lon ...Minnesota... ...Becker County... Lake Park MN 9.9 S 0.3 in 0830 AM 10/27 46.74N/96.11W Detroit Lakes MN 5.7 N 0.1 in 0430 AM 10/27 46.89N/95.84W ...Beltrami County... 5 SSE Puposky 0.5 in 1019 AM 10/27 47.61N/94.88W Bemidji MN 4.8 NNE 0.1 in 0700 AM 10/27 47.55N/94.86W ...Clay County... Comstock MN 0.1 E 1.0 in 0600 AM 10/27 46.66N/96.75W Moorhead MN 0.5 W 1.0 in 0700 AM 10/27 46.86N/96.75W Moorhead 0.9 in 0653 AM 10/27 46.86N/96.76W Moorhead MN 2.0 N 0.9 in 0700 AM 10/27 46.89N/96.75W Glyndon MN 6.9 ENE 0.5 in 0700 AM 10/27 46.92N/96.45W Hawley MN 5.2 WNW 0.5 in 0700 AM 10/27 46.92N/96.41W 4 N Muskoda 0.5 in 0700 AM 10/27 46.92N/96.41W Sabin MN 0.5 in 0835 AM 10/27 46.78N/96.66W Moorhead 0.3 in 0506 AM 10/27 46.86N/96.76W ...Clearwater County... 4 SSE Bagley 1.5 in 0649 AM 10/27 47.47N/95.37W ...Kittson County... Lake Bronson Dam MN 8.0 in 1000 AM 10/27 48.72N/96.62W Karlstad MN 0.2 SSW 6.2 in 0742 AM 10/27 48.58N/96.52W 1 E Lake Bronson 4.0 in 1225 PM 10/27 48.73N/96.65W ...Lake of the Woods County... Baudette 5.0 in 1153 AM 10/27 48.71N/94.58W ...Marshall County... 2 N Viking 5.0 in 1155 AM 10/27 48.24N/96.40W 4 N Argyle 4.0 in 1129 AM 10/27 48.40N/96.81W Warren MN 4.0 in 0800 AM 10/27 48.20N/96.78W Warren 3.0 in 0500 AM 10/27 48.20N/96.77W ...Norman County... Twin Valley 2.0 in 1158 AM 10/27 47.26N/96.26W Twin Valley MN 0.1 NE 1.5 in 0800 AM 10/27 47.26N/96.26W ...Otter Tail County... Fergus Falls MN 6.3 SE T in 0700 AM 10/27 46.21N/95.99W 4 NW Dalton 0.0 in 0700 AM 10/27 46.21N/95.99W ...Pennington County... Goodridge MN 7.4 SW 2.7 in 0700 AM 10/27 48.07N/95.92W Thief River Falls 2.0 in 0744 AM 10/27 48.11N/96.18W ...Polk County... 7 W Tabor 6.0 in 1214 PM 10/27 48.08N/97.02W 4 S Warren 4.9 in 0934 AM 10/27 48.14N/96.77W 1 SSE East Grand Forks 4.5 in 1159 AM 10/27 47.91N/97.00W Crookston MN 3.0 in 0800 AM 10/27 47.80N/96.62W Mentor MN 2.5 SSW 3.0 in 0700 AM 10/27 47.67N/96.17W 6 SSW Trail 2.0 in 0600 AM 10/27 47.70N/95.75W ...Roseau County... Greenbush MN 5.0 in 0700 AM 10/27 48.70N/96.18W Warroad MN 1.8 WNW 5.0 in 0700 AM 10/27 48.93N/95.36W ...Wadena County... Sebeka MN T in 0700 AM 10/27 46.63N/95.08W ...Wilkin County... Wolverton MN 1.1 ENE 0.5 in 0700 AM 10/27 46.57N/96.72W ...North Dakota... ...Benson County... 4 SW Oberon 11.0 in 1122 AM 10/27 47.89N/99.28W Saint Michael 7.5 in 0651 AM 10/27 47.98N/98.87W ...Cass County... West Fargo 1.0 in 0506 AM 10/27 46.87N/96.90W Fargo ND 3 S 0.8 in 0700 AM 10/27 46.83N/96.80W Fargo 0.5 in 0506 AM 10/27 46.88N/96.80W Fargo ND 2.1 N 0.5 in 0800 AM 10/27 46.91N/96.78W ...Cavalier County... Langdon ND 1 E 9.5 in 0900 AM 10/27 48.75N/98.33W ...Grand Forks County... 1 E Larimore 9.5 in 1156 AM 10/27 47.91N/97.61W Larimore 8.8 in 0700 AM 10/27 47.91N/97.62W Larimore ND 0.4 SE 7.8 in 0700 AM 10/27 47.91N/97.62W 1 WNW Grand Forks 5.8 in 0700 AM 10/27 47.92N/97.10W 1 ENE Northwood 5.6 in 1101 AM 10/27 47.74N/97.56W Grand Forks ND 3.4 SSE 5.0 in 0700 AM 10/27 47.87N/97.03W Grand Forks ND 2.5 SE 4.5 in 0500 AM 10/27 47.89N/97.03W 5 NW Grand Forks 4.0 in 0700 AM 10/27 47.97N/97.15W ...Nelson County... 1 W Petersburg 10.0 in 1226 PM 10/27 48.01N/98.02W ...Pembina County... Cavalier ND 7.9 WNW 10.6 in 0800 AM 10/27 48.85N/97.78W 4 ESE Walhalla 10.6 in 1203 PM 10/27 48.90N/97.83W Cavalier ND 7 NW 10.0 in 0700 AM 10/27 48.86N/97.70W Pembina ND 9.0 in 0600 AM 10/27 48.97N/97.24W ...Ramsey County... Starkweather 12.0 in 1211 PM 10/27 48.45N/98.88W 2 N Devils Lake 11.0 in 1119 AM 10/27 48.14N/98.86W 6 NW Devils Lake 8.5 in 0915 AM 10/27 48.17N/98.95W Devils Lake 6.0 in 0702 AM 10/27 48.11N/98.86W Edmore 6.0 in 0400 PM 10/26 48.41N/98.45W ...Ransom County... Lisbon ND 0.5 ENE 2.8 in 0800 AM 10/27 46.44N/97.67W Lisbon ND 2.7 in 0700 AM 10/27 46.43N/97.68W ...Richland County... Abercrombie ND 0.2 NW T in 0600 AM 10/27 46.45N/96.73W ...Steele County... 6 NE Luverne 8.4 in 0559 AM 10/27 47.31N/97.85W Sharon ND 7.9 ENE 8.0 in 0700 AM 10/27 47.65N/97.75W ...Towner County... Cando 8.5 in 1151 AM 10/27 48.49N/99.20W ...Traill County... Mayville ND 3.2 in 0700 AM 10/27 47.50N/97.35W Hillsboro 2.0 in 0545 AM 10/27 47.40N/97.06W Grandin ND 7.1 ENE 1.9 in 0700 AM 10/27 47.27N/96.86W ...Walsh County... Lankin ND 6 E 18.0 in 0600 AM 10/27 48.33N/97.80W 5 E Grafton 8.5 in 1125 AM 10/27 48.43N/97.30W 5 WSW Hoople 8.0 in 0456 PM 10/26 48.51N/97.74W
Photos & Video
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| 3-4" of heavy snowfall in Trail, MN, Courtesy of Mike Connor | Broken branch in Trail, MN, Courtesy of Mike Connor | Heavy snow near Hayes Lake State Park, MN. Courtesy of Carol Guy. | Veseleyville, ND, snowfall. Courtesy of Carrie Adams Golden. |
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| Overturned semi on I94 westbound near Valley City, ND. Courtesy of Greg Anderson. | Heavy snowfall in Grand Forks, ND. Courtesy of WDAY. | Snow covered trees in East Grand Forks, MN. Courtesy of WDAY. | Heavy snow near Brocket, ND. Courtesy of Shilo Nerison. |
Radar
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Radar loop from 25 October at 18 UTC to 27 October at 12 UTC |
Impacts
A band of heavy snow from southwest ND into northeast ND fell over a period of two days beginning the afternoon of 10/25 and ending the morning of 10/27.
Primary impacts were tied to transportation, native vegetation, and agriculture. This came in the form of snow covered and icy roads resultant from 12-18 inches of snow that fell across the Devils Lake basin into northeast North Dakota through the event. This lead to a travel alerts for much of the state per the NDDOT map below.
Heavy wet snow accumulated and compacted onto area roadways, in addition to initial melting of snow re-freezing leading to widespread icy roadways contributing to hazardous driving conditions. Heavy wet snow fell on trees still holding on to leaves, leading to areas of tree damage.
Additionally, fall harvest was underway during this event. The significant snowfall accumulations had some impact to harvest activities, although is hard to quantify.
These factors along with this event bringing the season's first winter impacts made for a notable October snow storm. 18" Park River, ND was the highest storm total report received, with 6 inches falling in the 24 hour period ending 7AM 10/26 with an additional 12" between then and 7AM 10/27.
The No Travel Advisory has been removed for western ND but remains for Morton County due to snow accumulation and icy road conditions.
— NDDOT (@NorthDakotaDOT) October 27, 2023
Much of the state remains in a Travel Alert. Please slow down and drive for the conditions. https://t.co/EXHjjz4Rx3 #NDRoads #ndwx pic.twitter.com/YFfAIdAWyy
10:23pm CDT #SPC_MD 2264 , #mnwx #ndwx, https://t.co/SlxWj1pX9R pic.twitter.com/QTHtdq8TRN
— NWS Storm Prediction Center (@NWSSPC) October 27, 2023
Many roads in the valley continue to be icy or snowy. For the latest road conditions, follow the link below:https://t.co/vkJNjSAIo8 #VNLFirstAlert #ndwx #mnwx pic.twitter.com/G3sGmWyJC7
— Lisa Green (@LisaGreenVNL) October 27, 2023
🚜 Snow won't stop fieldwork in Walsh County.
— Dillon Vogt (@DillonvWx) October 26, 2023
📷: Brian Kadlec#ndwx pic.twitter.com/h9rFMelluk
Environment
This event was driven by a deepening upper level trough over the northwestern United States. This placed the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest under southwest flow aloft, allowing smaller waves of energy and moisture to stream over our region. These initial pieces of energy started producing snow within western, central, and northeast North Dakota between October 25-26. This combined with extra forcing for ascent through length and strong frontogenesis in addition to abnormally high amounts of instability allowed small areas of heavy snow, producing several inches of accumulating snow even before the main upper trough and attendant surface low pressure system moved through our region.
Late October 26 into early October 27, the main surface low pressure ripe with moisture, focused forcing for ascent, and cold enough temperatures drove an additional wave of heavy snowfall over the region. While this main wave was relatively compact, it was notable in strength as it moved east across the Dakotas into central and northern Minnesota. Heavy snow rates were driven by mesoscale forcing, including lengthy and strong frontogenesis as well as an unusually high amount of instability for this time of year. As the surface low deepened, winds increased aiding in further visibility reductions due to blowing snow as well as creating large snow drifts.
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| Figure 1: Water Vapor Loop from GOES-West (GOES-18) between 12Z October 25 - 18Z October 27, 2023 |
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