On This Day in Weather History: The January 22-23, 2018 Winter Storm

It’s safe to say Minnesota’s winter this year is off to an incredibly slow start. Although the windchills have dipped below zero at times as of late, we have yet to receive any real snow to write home about, so let’s reminisce on an event from 2018 that brought 12-18 inches of snow across much of Minnesota and northern Iowa.

Patches of bare ground were present across the Twin Cities and most of Minnesota, but then winter struck back with a robust snowstorm on January 22, 2018. A rather strong low-pressure system was present in western Iowa during the morning hours of January 22 and moved to the east across the southern portion of Lake Michigan by day's end on January 23. With a good moisture source associated with the low, the system produced wet, heavy snow. 12.4 inches of snow were recorded at Twin Cities International Airport. In just 12 short hours, the Twin Cities metro area in Minnesota was buried with over a foot of snow. 

Snow began in southern Minnesota early in the morning on January 22 and continued falling at the Twin Cities International Airport at 10am. Snow tapered off shortly before midnight. 17 inches of snow were measured in Owatonna and also near Winnebago. The central and southern Twin Cities Metro area was buried with 8-14 inches of snow while the northwest metro saw about four to six inches. A sharp cutoff was in place for snow totals with St. Cloud not seeing even a flake.