Overview
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On March 19, 2025, a narrow band of heavy snow brought blizzard conditions from Nebraska up through southern Minnesota. This was a wet, heavy snow, with snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour leading to near zero visibility at times. Wind gusts were 35 to 40 mph, and snowfall amounts of 6 to 9 inches were observed across far southern Minnesota. One thing to note is this was a classic spring system, in the sense that it had thunderstorms and severe weather on the warm side across Iowa and Illinois, with a band of heavy snow and a very sharp cutoff on the cold side. |
 16 hour radar loop and precipitation type with lighting overlaid (white dotes) from the March 19 winter storm. Rain (green/yellow) changed over to snow (blue) Wednesday morning across southern Minnesota. The heaviest snow fell across far southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. |
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| Visible satellite imagery from March 20, 2025 that showed the narrow band of snow (white strip) corresponding to the snowfall map on the right. | Road conditions as of 3 AM on March 05, 2025. The extensive travel impacts were seen from Missouri and Kansas, up through northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. |
Summary
A narrow band of heavy snow feel across southern Minnesota, up through central Wisconsin. Total amounts generally ranged from 6 to 9 inches, with a few reports over a foot.
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| Satellite image from Wednesday morning showing areas of dust (tan) being wrapped northward across northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin by the strong cyclone. | MNDOT image from southern Steele County showing reduced visibility from heavy snow and wind. | MNDOT image from northern Steele County in stark contrast, showing only dry roads. |
Snowfall Reports
...SNOWFALL REPORTS FROM WINTER STORM ON WEDNESDAY MARCH 19, 2025... Location Amount Time/Date Provider 2 NNE Bricelyn 9.5 in 0452 PM 03/19 Public Bricelyn 9.0 in 0936 PM 03/19 Broadcast Media Albert Lea 8.0 in 0936 PM 03/19 Broadcast Media Blue Earth 8.0 in 0305 PM 03/19 Cocorahs Blue Earth 0.6 ESE 8.0 in 0700 AM 03/20 COCORAHS 1 SW Albert Lea 6.0 in 0400 PM 03/19 Cocorahs Albert Lea 1WSW 6.0 in 0530 AM 03/20 COCORAHS Wells 6.0 in 0330 PM 03/19 Public Wells 3.5 SE 6.0 in 0700 AM 03/20 COCORAHS Ellendale 4.4 in 0330 PM 03/19 Cocorahs Blue Earth 1S 4.0 in 0800 AM 03/20 COOP 1 SE Lemond 3.0 in 0330 PM 03/19 Trained Spotter Minnesota Lake 0.9 NNW 2.7 in 1100 AM 03/20 COCORAHS Observations are collected from a variety of sources with varying equipment and exposures. We thank all volunteer weather observers for their dedication. Not all data listed are considered official.
Wind Reports
...HIGHEST WIND REPORTS FROM WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2025... Location Speed Time/Date Provider Fairmont AP 44 MPH 0911 AM 03/19 AWOS Madison AP 41 MPH 1235 PM 03/19 AWOS Eden Prairie AP 41 MPH 1144 AM 03/19 ASOS St. James AP 41 MPH 1115 AM 03/19 AWOS Canby AP 39 MPH 0355 PM 03/19 AWOS Mankato AP 39 MPH 1130 AM 03/19 AWOS Owatonna AP 39 MPH 0848 AM 03/19 AWOS Redwood Falls AP 39 MPH 0444 PM 03/19 ASOS Ganoe Hill 39 MPH 0407 PM 03/19 RAWS Waseca AP 38 MPH 1115 AM 03/19 AWOS Albert Lea AP 38 MPH 1135 AM 03/19 AWOS Crystal AP 38 MPH 1147 AM 03/19 ASOS St. Paul Dwtn AP 38 MPH 0527 PM 03/19 ASOS Glencoe AP 37 MPH 1235 PM 03/19 AWOS Morris AP 37 MPH 0415 PM 03/19 AWOS Appleton AP 36 MPH 0354 PM 03/19 AWOS Alexandria MN ASOS 36 MPH 0109 PM 03/19 ASOS Montevideo AP 36 MPH 1255 PM 03/19 AWOS Sauk Centre AP 35 MPH 0455 PM 03/19 AWOS Granite Falls AP 35 MPH 1035 AM 03/19 AWOS Hutchinson AP 35 MPH 0855 AM 03/19 AWOS Rice Lake AP 35 MPH 0155 PM 03/19 AWOS New Ulm AP 35 MPH 0615 PM 03/19 AWOS Observations are collected from a variety of sources with varying equipment and exposures. We thank all volunteer weather observers for their dedication. Not all data listed are considered official.
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