All-Time Records Fall Across Midwest; Snow Reported For First Time Ever In May In Arkansas

[hatrack]

A late spring snowstorm in the Midwest has shattered longstanding state snowfall records, with all-time state records for the month of May falling in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The snowstorm, which walloped the region with snowfall rates of more than an inch per hour at times on May 1-2, delivered 18 inches of snow in Blooming Prairie, Minn., 17.5 inches in Goodhue, and 15.5 inches in Owatonna.

According to the Minnesota Climate Working Group, the state daily May snowfall record had stood at 12 inches, which was most recently set on May 3, 1954. The Working Group said that the snowstorm was extremely rare for southern parts of the state.

“While May snowfalls are not uncommon in northern Minnesota, heavy May snowfall in southern Minnesota is rare. A quick scan of all historical Minnesota May daily snowfall totals greater than or equal to 3 inches indicates that May 1938 may have been the last time any southern Minnesota observer reported snowfall totals of similar magnitude,” the Working Group said on its website.

In Iowa, the 11 inches recorded at the town of Britt, which is in the north central part of the state, is also likely a state record. The 6.7 inches that fell in Des Moines was the city's biggest May snowstorm on record. In Wisconsin, 16.2 inches fell at Ashland, which also set a state record for the heaviest May snowstorm on record.
Also, up to 3 inches of snow fell in Arkansas, where measurable snow had never before been recorded in May.

EDIT

http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/rare-may-snowstorm-annihilates-records-in-midwest-15941

[gopiscrap]

1. Wow how freaky

[kestrel91316]

2. Meanwhile in SoCal we are having fall's fire season in the spring,

after having had virtually no fall and no fire season for the past 2 years.

[GliderGuider]

3. Nothing to see here, folks.

Just some conspiratorial weather-men looking for grant money again...

[emmadoggy]

4. My current town managed to stay

JUUUST east of the snowfall - lots of COLD, COLD rain though (temps in the 30's - in MAY, normal should be 65). My hometown, 60 miles to the west, had nearly a foot of snow. This system dragged on for nearly 3 days - though the bulk of the snow fell on Thursday. The snow was so heavy and wet that it caused a lot of tree damage in Rochester, MN. Rochester's previous May snowfall record was, I believe, around an inch and they got 14 inches from this storm.

To say that this is the talk of the area right now is putting it mildly. This shit was FREAKY.