NOAA's National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Snowfall Reports
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Duluth, MN NWS
(NE Minnesota. & NW Wisconsin.)

Twin Cities NWS
(S Minnesota. & WC Wisconsin)

Precipitation Reports
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Milwaukee/Sullivan, WI NWS
(S Wisconsin, NE Iowa)

Sioux Falls, SD NWS
(SE South Dakota, SW Minneosta)

This winter weather event was associated with a low pressure system that tracked across much of the central United States. The low pressure center, or cyclone, was near the northern Texas border the evening of February 12th. From there, it tracked across the southern plains and through northern Illinois by the night of February 13th. During the day of February 14th, the low pressure center made its way through Michigan.

As the low pressure system passed to the south of the Northland, it pushed a large area of precipitation northeast across the region. The swath of precipitation originated as rain as it spread through the Dakotas and southern Minnesota throughout the morning and into the afternoon of February 13th. However, by that evening the precipitation drifted into the northern, cooler, half of Minnesota where the precipitation was in the form of freezing rain, mixed with snow and sleet.

By the morning of the 14th, Valentine’s Day, the low pressure center had moved into Michigan, while the back edge of the precipitation was just moving through the Twin Ports region.