WINTER WEATHER HOLDS SWAY AS SNOW BLANKETS NORTHERN PLAINS

November 27, 2001 — After cheering ski resort operators in California, Utah and Colorado over the Thanksgiving weekend, a major winter storm blanketed portions of the northern Plains Tuesday, closing schools and highways in three states, according to NOAA's National Weather Service. Portions of South Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota were hit with blizzard and white-out conditions as heavy snows and high winds combined for miserable conditions. (Click image for larger view of NOAA's U.S. Snow Monitoring—Recent Snowfall & Snow Depth Map for Nov. 26, 2001. Click here for latest maps.)

While residents of Texas and Oklahoma prepared for their own blast of wintery weather expected Tuesday, people from Colorado to northern Michigan began digging out from more than a foot of snow in some locations. Residents of many mountain areas were measuring their snow in feet. Most mountain locations in western Colorado received up to 2 feet of snow, but the storm dumped 3-4 feet on the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado.

Snow continued to fall in portions of eastern South Dakota and Minnesota Tuesday morning, but was expected to taper off throughout the day. Additional accumulations of 2-4 inches were expected on top of 11-12 inches already on the ground.

Mike Looney, chief of meteorological services at National Weather Service Central Region Headquarters in Kansas City, said the agency was able to provide plenty of advance notice of the storm. "From headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., to the forecast offices in Colorado, Wyoming, the Dakotas and Minnesota, our forecasters were able to provide up to 23 hours lead time on when and where the snow was going to have an impact," Looney said. "People traveling after the holiday would have known the storm was coming, but they may not have been able to do anything about travel plans."

More than 140 miles of Interstate 80 was reported closed from Big Springs, Neb., west to Cheyenne, Wyo., with many other state and local highways also forced to shut down. Numerous schools were closed in Nebraska, South Dakota and southwestern Minnesota.

According to Looney, conditions simply overwhelmed travelers despite the early warnings. "When you get a foot of snow and the wind is blowing 35-40 mph, it makes you realize just how puny you are against the forces of nature," Looney said. "Driving on snow and ice is difficult enough, add white-out conditions where you can't see the road and you're not going anywhere."

Airports suffered much the same fate as highways because of the storm. Northwest Airlines canceled 72 flights in and out of its hub at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. More than a dozen flights were canceled at Sioux Falls Airport after the city recorded a record 11.4 inches of snow for the day.

Minneapolis and areas to its north and east ranged from 6 to 12 inches, according to forecasters at the Weather Service forecast office in Chanhassen, with an additional accumulation of 2-4 inches expected Tuesday. The area forecast predicted storm totals of 8 to 16 inches by the end of the day. The snow will again be accompanied by strong northeast winds of 20-30 mph with gusts to 40 mph, reducing visibility and causing problems with drifts.

The Sioux Falls area forecast calls for an additional accumulation of less than 2 inches with blowing snow from northwest winds of 20-35 mph reducing visibility to less than half a mile at times.

The storm left Aberdeen in northeastern South Dakota with 8 inches of snow on the ground while leaving only a trace at the state capital, Pierre. Fargo, N.D., with 6 inches of snow and the Grand Forks area received 1-3 inches. Much of eastern and southern South Dakota remained under a winter storm warning Tuesday. The Sioux Falls area forecast calls for a chance of light snow through Wednesday and more light snow or freezing rain on Friday. Temperatures are expected to remain below freezing until Sunday, when highs are forecast around 35 degrees.

Forecasters expect a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain Tuesday in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, spreading into parts of south-central Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin. In northern Michigan, the National Weather Service office near Marquette recorded 12.7 inches of snow on the ground as of Tuesday morning, with another 4-8 inches expected by the end of the day.

As one system tapers off in the northern plains, a southern storm system, combined with cold temperatures, is forecast to drop freezing rain, sleet and snow on portions of Oklahoma and Texas. Forecasters were calling for snow in much of the Texas Panhandle, moving east and south into central Oklahoma and the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The Amarillo Weather Service office Texas Panhandle forecast called for high temperatures around 26 degrees Tuesday with up to 3 inches of snow expected by Wednesday. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the Weather Service forecasts high temperatures only in the upper 30s Tuesday with rain and sleet likely. The low temperature Tuesday was expected to be near 30 degrees. North winds of 10-20 mph are expected in the area Tuesday night, along with widespread rain, sleet and freezing rain continuing through much of Wednesday. Forecasters expect nearly half an inch of ice to accumulate in the area. Central Oklahoma can expect snow mixed with sleet and freezing rain through tonight with 1-3 inches of snow likely to accumulate.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA's Storm Watch — Get the latest severe weather information across the USA

NOAA's Weather Page

NOAA Weather Radio

U.S. Snow Monitoring—Recent Snowfall & Snow Depth Maps

NOAA's New Wind Chill Chart

NOAA's Winter Weather Awareness

NOAA's Meteorological Calculator

Meteorological Tables

Media Contact:
Patrick Slattery, NOAA's National Weather Service Central Region, (816) 426-7621, ext. 621

 

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