National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

A passing storm system brought a plethora of weather types to the area on Thursday, February 26th.  An area of low pressure developed over the central plains Wednesday night, then by midnight on Thursday, it had quickly pushed northeast over Lower Michigan.  Anything from heavy snow, to a wintry mix of snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain, to all rain was observed.  Also, thunderstorms (some even with severe hail) occurred across portions of northeast Iowa into southwest Wisconsin. 

As greater amounts of warm air mixed into the storm system over the local area than had been originally anticipated, lesser snow values were observed, as the precipitation fell primarily as rain and sleet in many locations.  There were places that did receive heavy snow accumulations, however this was north of the area amounts were observed in association with this storm system, however they were north of the area, across central Minnesota and into northern Wisconsin, where 5 to 7 inches of snow was common.

Snowfall Totals

Sleet and Snow Reports

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0130 PM     SLEET            ST. ANSGAR              43.38N 92.92W
02/26/2009  E0.60 INCH       MITCHELL           IA   PUBLIC

0207 PM     SLEET            1 WSW OELWEIN           42.67N 91.93W
02/26/2009  E0.50 INCH       FAYETTE            IA   TRAINED SPOTTER

            SLEET AND ICE COVERING THE ROADS BETWEEN FAIRBANK AND
            OELWEIN.

0223 PM     SLEET            1 NW ROCHESTER          44.02N 92.49W
02/26/2009  E2.50 INCH       OLMSTED            MN   EMERGENCY MNGR

            2.5 INCHES OF SLEET AND SNOW

0300 PM     SLEET            2 NW HOLMEN             43.98N 91.29W
02/26/2009  M0.50 INCH       LA CROSSE          WI   NWS EMPLOYEE

            NWS EMPLOYEE MEASURED 2.1 INCHES OF SNOW.

0300 PM     SNOW             5 S WABASHA             44.37N 92.05W
02/26/2009  E3.5 INCH        WABASHA            MN   PUBLIC

            SLEET FELL FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES

0341 PM     SLEET            LYNDON STATION          43.71N 89.89W
02/26/2009  E0.50 INCH       JUNEAU             WI   PUBLIC

            MIXED WITH SNOW AND ROADS SLUSHY

0347 PM     SNOW             5 N ST. CHARLES         44.04N 92.06W
02/26/2009  E1.6 INCH        WINONA             MN   PUBLIC

            MIXED WITH SLEET AND THUNDER AT TIMES.

0411 PM     SLEET            DORCHESTER              43.47N 91.52W
02/26/2009  E0.50 INCH       ALLAMAKEE          IA   PUBLIC

            MIXED WITH SNOW

0411 PM     SNOW             2 S HOLMEN              43.93N 91.26W
02/26/2009  E1.2 INCH        LA CROSSE          WI   PUBLIC

            MIXED WITH SLEET

0420 PM     SLEET            OSSIAN                  43.15N 91.76W
02/26/2009  E0.50 INCH       WINNESHIEK         IA   PUBLIC

0600 PM     SLEET            WINONA                  44.05N 91.66W
02/26/2009  E0.50 INCH       WINONA             MN   PUBLIC

Hail Reports

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1141 AM     SLEET            AUSTIN                  43.67N 92.97W
02/26/2009  E0.15 INCH       MOWER              MN   BROADCAST MEDIA

1245 PM     SLEET            1 S WESTBY              43.64N 90.86W
02/26/2009  E0.25 INCH       VERNON             WI   PUBLIC

0100 PM     HAIL             EDGEWOOD                42.65N 91.40W
02/26/2009  M0.88 INCH       CLAYTON            IA   TRAINED SPOTTER

0113 PM     HAIL             2 SE PRAIRIE DU CHIEN   43.02N 91.11W
02/26/2009  E0.50 INCH       CRAWFORD           WI   PUBLIC

            HAIL COVERING THE GROUND. UP TO DIME SIZED IN DIAMETER.