BRAINERD — Rain turned to sleet, and sleet turned to afternoon snow Thursday, April 20, creating icy road conditions and causing numerous crashes throughout the Brainerd lakes area.
The National Weather Service in Duluth issued a winter weather advisory for the area until 7 a.m. Friday with the forecast calling for 2-4 inches of wet snow.
About 2 p.m. Thursday the Minnesota Department of Transportation reported snow and slush on area roadways, with visibility a half a mile or less. Area law enforcement and emergency responders were called to numerous crashes and vehicles in ditches in the Brainerd area.
“The roads are very slippery and the visibility is very low,” the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office reported on its Facebook page. “Please slow down and turn your headlights on if you are traveling today. Our dispatch center is fielding calls of crashes all around the county. Drive safe everyone!”
While the heaviest snow was expected to fall through early Thursday evening, snowfall was expected to continue Friday and into Friday night. Wind gusts up to 20-25 mph were also expected.
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Fresh, sticky snow of 4.8 inches was measured in Brainerd by Thursday afternoon. Snow was falling heavily and piling up quickly in the afternoon with tires leaving ruts in the streets and lawns, cars and homes once again blanketed in white. By Thursday night, light snow was still falling. More snow, possibly another 1-3 inches was forecast Thursday night into Friday.
And the snow may not be done yet with snow showers mainly after noon Friday with a high near 36 and breezy conditions with gusts as high as 20 mph.
This winter was already in the record books topping the charts for snowfall since 1948. Thursday’s fresh snowfall just cemented the winter of 2022-23. The Brainerd area broke the record Sunday, April 16, when a coop observer made it official by reporting 4 inches of snow as of 3 p.m. that day pushing the area’s seasonal snowfall to 84.3 inches.
With additional snowfall before Thursday, the National Weather Service in Duluth had Brainerd’s seasonal snowfall at 85.3 inches. Unofficially adding 4.8 inches to that would push this season above 90 inches of snow.
With Thursday’s snowfall, 5.5 inches of snow was reported near Pine River and 4 inches by Deerwood. The record snowfall for April 20 was a trace of snow in 1941 and the record snow depth was 1 inch set in 1961. The snowfall record dates back to 1898 until 2021, when record keeping was changed. And the record snow depth dates back to 1900 until 2021. So this winter would be setting daily records as well as the seasonal record.
Another 1.5 inches of snow may fall by Friday.
It might be almost hard to remember it was 75 degrees about a week ago.
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Duluth broke its record by 7 a.m. Thursday with 137.1 inches of snow for the season to date, besting the snowy winter of 1995-1996, which had 135.4 inches of snow. In third place, the winter of 1949-1950 with 131.8 inches of snow. In a tweet, the weather service created a snowfall podium graphic with different colored shovels atop the Olympic-style risers. But the weather service also included an ominous note, adding “we have until June 30 until the count resets.”
Northern Minnesota, roughly from Bemidji to the border, was under a winter storm warning until 4 a.m. Friday and then in a winter weather advisory through 1 a.m. Saturday.
Brainerd also remains in a flood advisory until 4 p.m. Saturday
While the snow moves out of the forecast, temperatures are expected to stay below average this coming weekend, with a high of 37 degrees Saturday, a low of 17 degrees Saturday night, 40 degrees Sunday and a low of 18 degrees Sunday night. The normal high for this time of year is 55 degrees.
Look for sun to return Sunday as breezy conditions continue. Monday and Tuesday should also be sunny with highs in the mid- to upper-40s. But there is a slight chance of snow Tuesday night. After that, the forecast calls for a slight chance of a different four letter word — rain.
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