5:57 PM Tuesday, February 22, 2022
The long duration snow event which has been affecting much of the Northland since early Monday morning will finally come to an end by later tonight.
62.1″ of snow so far this winter (since Dec. 1) at Duluth, Minnesota, normal snowfall to date is 47.1″.
Record snowfall at Duluth, Minnesota on February 21, 2022, with 6.3″ of snow at the Duluth Airport. This breaks the old snowfall record of 5.8″, and that record was set on February 21, 1960.
Snowfall Reports from around the Northland for the February 21-22, 2022, Winter Storm
Note: Snow continues to fall in parts of the area as of late this afternoon so the amounts listed below may not be the final total from this winter storm.
2 WSW Washburn, WI: 30.0″
4 SSW Ashland, WI: 28.0″
5 W Washburn, WI: 26.0″
1 WNW Superior, WI: 19.0″
1.2 SE Duluth, MN: 17.0″
Gary New Duluth, MN: 17.0″
3 E Payne, MN: 15.5″
3 N Amnicon Falls State Park, WI: 15.2″
3 W Lester Park, MN: 13.0″
3 NE Duluth, MN: 12.7″
1 WNW Breezy Point, MN: 12.0″
3 NNE Baxter, WI: 11.0″
8 W Pine Center, MN: 11.0″
3 NNE Two Harbors, MN: 10.0″
Duluth Airport: 9.9″
Federal Dam, MN: 8.5″
7 SE Grand Rapids, MN: 8.0″
4 NW Minong, WI: 8.0″
5 NE Brainerd, MN: 7.8″
2 WSW Two Harbors, MN: 7.5″
7 SSW Grand Rapids, MN: 7.3″
Keewatin, MN: 6.7″
3 N Cromwell, MN: 6.0″
4 ENE Lutsen, MN: 6.0″
2 S Palisade, MN: 6.0″
Embarrass, MN: 5.0″
7 WSW Hovland, MN: 4.0″
1 WNW Cass Lake, MN: 3.3″
We saw an impressive snowfall gradient setup over the Twin Ports with this winter storm since Monday morning, with about 10″ of snow reported at the Duluth Airport as of 4:30 PM Tuesday, while there have been several reports of 17-20″ or more of snow in Superior and also on the south side of Duluth including in the Gary New Duluth area.
The reason behind these varying snow totals was due to the prevailing wind direction which was from the northeast on Monday. A northeast wind favors Superior and the south side of Duluth more so than the north side of Duluth (Airport) for lake effect/lake enhanced snowfall if temperatures are cold enough, and they certainly were on Monday.
Snow continues in east-central and northeast Minnesota and all of northwest Wisconsin into this evening, and then will see the snow end from west to east after Midnight tonight.
Additional snowfall accumulations tonight will range from 1 to 5 inches in northwest Wisconsin (highest amounts along the South Shore of Lake Superior) to less than an inch in northeast and east-central Minnesota including in Duluth.
Simulated radar forecast ending 6 AM Wednesday.
A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for parts of the Northland.
Road conditions will remain in rough shape tonight and into Wednesday morning but hopefully they will begin to improve starting Wednesday afternoon.
An active southwest flow remains in place as our winter storm of the past few days finally begins to pull away from the upper Midwest late this afternoon while the next system of interest digs ESE into the Southern Rockies, but this system is forecast to remain well south of the Northland along with its precipitation shield later this week.
Goes-16 water vapor loop from Tuesday, February 22, 2022
More subzero temperatures on the way for the next few nights.
Lows tonight will range from the single digits below to around 25 below zero in the Northland with the coldest temperatures across north-central Minnesota.
Even colder temperatures are likely for Wednesday night and Thursday night as temperatures fall into the teens, 20s and even a few 30s below zero in the Northland.
Wind Chill Advisory in effect (light blue area) from Midnight tonight to 11 AM Wednesday. Wind chills as low as 30 below to 35 below zero.
Highs on Wednesday will only be in the single digits and teens in the Northland, and this is roughly 15 to 20 degrees colder than normal for February 23.
No matter how you look at it this winter has been a cold one in the Northland.
Average temperature at Duluth, Minnesota for the winter of 2021-22 (thru Feb. 21) 10.2 degrees, -4.0 degrees below average.
For Duluth — Nearly 60% of days this winter (since Dec. 1) have been colder than average, with less than 40% of days this winter (since Dec. 1) being warmer than average.
Winter of 2021-22 (thru Feb. 21) ranks as the 5th coldest winter on record by climate district in northeastern Minnesota.
Thanks for reading!
Tim