Borderland can’t say it wasn’t warned that snowfall was likely following the March 11 return of gulls to the area. Popular folklore tells that the white birds’ return signals three snowfalls are to follow.
Sunday and Monday’s mid-April snowstorm would mark the third significant snowfall since the gulls’ migration north, but meteorologists can’t promise it’s the last.
“April is a transition month,” said Steve Gohde, observing program leader with the National Weather Service in Duluth. “This is the month that we’re still trying to pass cold air from the north to the south and that is when we have our storms, severe weather, and snowfall events.”
Sunday’s dumping of the white stuff that covered green grass and budding trees resulted from a powerful storm system that passed through the plain states.
“We were on the tail end of the storm that spawned some of the extreme weather that held tornadoes in the plain states,” Gohde explained.
Large amounts of moisture was wrapped around an area of low pressure that squeezed out the 3.7 inches of snow that blanked Borderland. And while that may have been more snow than appreciated by most, it wasn’t as much as our neighbors just 25 miles south received.
“At the Gateway Store in Kabetogama, 10 inches of snow was reported,” Gohde said. “Another 11 inches was reported in Orr. That area was kind of the bullseye for the heavier snow.”
Power outages and difficult driving conditions were reported throughout many areas of the region due to the heavy snow and high winds. Gusts reached up to 35 miles per hour in the Falls Monday morning, but hit 45 miles per hour in areas around Kabetogama and Orr.
“South of International Falls was really where the worst part of the area’s weather battle took place,” Gohde noted.
The meteorologist laughed that an April 16 snowstorm was in its second-year trend in Borderland. Last year, almost 8 inches of snow took over the area on the same date.
“Snowfall in these great amounts at this time of year is unusual, but not uncommon,” Gohde said.
Looking into the extended forecast, Gohde said April is shaping up to end warm and wet.
“It looks like we’ll see some above normal temperatures for the end of the month, but also a chance of above normal precipitation."
For a complete forecast, visit www.crh.noaa.gov/dlh.
Snowfall reports from around the northland for April 15,16:
International Falls — 3.7 inches
Chisholm — 11 inches
Orr — 11 inches
Togo — 10 inches
Kabetogama — 9.4 inches
Bigfork — 8 inches
Cook — 8 inches
Wirt — 7.5 inches
Ray — 6 inches
Cohasset — 5 inches
Deer River — 5 inches
Grand Rapids — 4 inches
Duluth — 0.6 inches
