An area of low pressure developed near Colorado and moved to the Upper Midwest Thursday and Friday, November 18th and 19th, bringing northeast Minnesota's first winter storm of the season after record warmth in November. Heavy snow, ranging from 8 to 25 inches, fell across northern Minnesota in a wide area from The Brainerd Lakes area through Grand Rapids, Nett Lake to Crane Lake and Ely and the Arrowhead. The snow began as rain and sleet but quickly changed over to snow in the evening of the 17th and overnight. There were intense snowfall rates of 1 to 3 per hour during the day. Two inches of snow fell in 30 minutes near Grand Rapids and 4 inches fell in 90 minutes between 11:00 am and 12:30 pm at Coleraine. The heavy snowfall rates brought very low visibility at times. Strong winds gusting over 40 mph created blizzard conditions, especially across Crow Wing County and portions of southern Cass County. The winds were the strongest at the head of Lake Superior where winds were gusting over 50 mph. The AWOS at the Sky Harbor Airport on Duluth's Park Point measured a gust of 55 mph around 11 am Friday. These strong east winds caused huge waves on Lake Superior where a Gale Warning was in effect. Waves were as high as 7 feet in the Duluth harbor's ship canal. The combination of heavy snow and strong winds brought down trees and power lines, which caused many power outages. The snow was accompanied by thunder and lightning at times.
Some snowfall reports include 25 5 miles east of Leader, 24.8��� near Orr, 19 4 miles south of Tower, 18 in Nisswa, 16 8 miles north-northwest of Coleraine, 14.2��� at Kabetogama, 11��� at Brainerd, 11 11 miles north-northwest of Whyte, 9 in Hoyt Lakes, 8.1��� near Wright, 8 3 miles west of Iron Junction, Gunflint Lake with 7.2���, and 6��� in Floodwood. Locations along and near Lake Superior received had much less snow, with reports of about 5.3 in Lutsen, 4.8 5 miles northwest of Two Harbors, 3 to 3.5 in Duluth, 4 in Finland, 2.5 in Beaver Bay, and 3.3 in Silver Bay.

Heavy Snow in KOOCHICHING, MINNESOTA
From 17-NOV-16 22:00:00 to 18-NOV-16 22:15:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: COOP Observer

The south and eastern parts of the county received 8 to 17 inches of snow.

Heavy Snow in NORTHERN ST. LOUIS, MINNESOTA
From 17-NOV-16 22:00:00 to 19-NOV-16 06:00:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: COOP Observer

Snowfall reports included a 24.8 from a COOP Observer 3 miles east of Orr, 16.7 from a COOP Observer 2 miles south-southwest of Kabetogama, and 14.4 from a CoCoRaHs report in Winton.

Heavy Snow in NORTHERN COOK / NORTHERN LAKE, MINNESOTA
From 17-NOV-16 23:00:00 to 19-NOV-16 10:00:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: COOP Observer

Snowfall reports include 11.0 from a COOP Observer 11 miles north-northwest of Whyte and 7.2 from a COOP Observer 4 miles northeast of Sea Gull Lake.

Heavy Snow in NORTHERN ITASCA, MINNESOTA
From 18-NOV-16 04:00:00 to 18-NOV-16 19:15:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: COOP Observer

There were no reports of snowfall from sparsely populated parts of northern Itasca County, but there was a report of 16.0 8 miles north-northwest of Coleraine, only about 4 miles south of the northern zone of Itasca County. There is great confidence portions of the northern zone of Itasca County, then, got heavy snowfall.

Heavy Snow in CENTRAL ST. LOUIS, MINNESOTA
From 17-NOV-16 23:00:00 to 19-NOV-16 06:00:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: COOP Observer

There was a snowfall report of 19.0 from a COOP Observer 4 miles south of Tower.

Heavy Snow in NORTHERN CASS, MINNESOTA
From 17-NOV-16 22:00:00 to 18-NOV-16 19:15:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Much of northern Cass County received 12 to 18 inches of snow, and possibly even more in the far north.

Heavy Snow in SOUTHERN CASS, MINNESOTA
From 17-NOV-16 23:00:00 to 18-NOV-16 19:15:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Snowfall reports included 25.0 from a trained spotter 5 miles east of Leader and 16.3 from a CoCoRaHS report 4 miles east-southeast of Casino, and 16.0 from a public report in Lake Shore.

Heavy Snow in CROW WING, MINNESOTA
From 17-NOV-16 22:00:00 to 18-NOV-16 19:15:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Public

Snowfall reports included a public report of 18.0 in Nisswa, 13.8 from a COOP Observer 2 miles east-northeast East Gull Lake and 11.1 from a COOP Observer 1 mile southwest of Brainerd.

Heavy Snow in SOUTHERN ITASCA, MINNESOTA
From 18-NOV-16 04:00:00 to 18-NOV-16 19:15:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Snowfall reports included 17.5 from CoCoRaHS 7 miles south-southwest of Grand Rapids and 16.0 from a COOP Observer 8 miles north-northwest of Coleraine.

Heavy Snow in NORTHERN AITKIN, MINNESOTA
From 17-NOV-16 23:00:00 to 18-NOV-16 19:15:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

There was a CoCoRaHS report of 8.9 of snowfall 7.3 miles north of McGregor.

Heavy Snow in SOUTHERN AITKIN, MINNESOTA
From 18-NOV-16 00:00:00 to 18-NOV-16 19:15:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

There were no snowfall reports from the southern zone of Aitkin County, but there was a CoCoRaHS report of 8.9 7.3 miles north of McGregor, only about 6 to 7 miles north into the northern zone of Aitkin County. There is great confidence, then, that portions of the northern portions of the southern zone of Aitkin County had heavy snowfall.

Heavy Snow in SOUTHERN ST. LOUIS / CARLTON, MINNESOTA
From 18-NOV-16 08:00:00 to 19-NOV-16 06:00:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: COOP Observer

There was a COOP Observer report of 8.1 of snowfall 3 miles east-northeast of Wright.

Blizzard in SOUTHERN CASS, MINNESOTA
From 18-NOV-16 08:30:00 to 18-NOV-16 15:15:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: AWOS

The combination of snow and strong north to north-northwest winds resulted in several hours of very low visibility across portions of southern Cass County. The Pine River AWOS and the Staples AWOS (just outside the southwest corner of the county) measured periods of wind gusts to nearly 40 mph and visibility near or below one-quarter of a mile. The winds and snow brought down some trees in the area, including several 8 diameter Norway Pine trees in Lake Shore.

Blizzard in CROW WING, MINNESOTA
From 18-NOV-16 09:30:00 to 18-NOV-16 16:30:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: ASOS

The combination of snow and strong north to north-northwest winds resulted in several hours of very low visibility across portions of Crow Wing County. The Brainerd ASOS and Emily AWOS measured periods of wind gusts over 40 mph and visibility near or below one-quarter of a mile.