Winter came early for much of the Northland in October. Some areas received upwards of a foot of snow while other areas received very little. The Lake Superior shoreline was heavily damaged by relentless waves caused by strong off lakes winds that gusted over 50 mph for many hours. The UMD buoy on the western tip of Lake Superior recorded a peak wind gust of 43 mph with steady winds of 35 to 40 mph overnight and most of the following day, Friday, October 27th. The buoy recorded waves of 10 to 16 feet. The weather monitoring equipment at the McQuade safe harbor recorded a peak wind of 45 mph. The winds and subsequent waves and high surf caused portions of the lake walk in Duluth to get torn up and strewn with rocks and debris. The snow began in the afternoon of the 26th and spread eastward. The official snowfall total for Duluth was 10.6 for the record October single day snowfall along with a new record daily maximum snowfall. The heavy, wet snow took down trees, branches, and power lines, leaving folks without power in areas of northern Minnesota, including Duluth and International Falls. Onshore waves and strong winds off of Lake Superior pummeled the shoreline around Duluth throwing rocks and upending concrete-based walkways. Portions of the the Duluth Lakewalk, Brighton Beach, Canal Park, and Park Point were damaged. A disaster declaration was authorized by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton for $2.12 million from the state and $1.38 million from the local governments totaling $3.5 million for repairs and cleanup. $2.5 million in damage was just in the city of Duluth alone with damage found also along Scenic Highway 61.

Heavy Snow in KOOCHICHING, MINNESOTA
From 26-OCT-17 16:45:00 to 27-OCT-17 08:00:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: COOP Observer

Observer reported 6.4 of snow in the town of Northome.

Heavy Snow in NORTHERN ST. LOUIS, MINNESOTA
From 26-OCT-17 18:00:00 to 27-OCT-17 10:00:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Public

Report of 6.0 of heavy snow that started at 8 PM on the 26th.

Heavy Snow in NORTHERN COOK / NORTHERN LAKE, MINNESOTA
From 26-OCT-17 20:00:00 to 27-OCT-17 12:00:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Storm total snowfall of 6.8.

Heavy Snow in SOUTHERN LAKE, MINNESOTA
From 26-OCT-17 23:00:00 to 28-OCT-17 02:00:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: COOP Observer

Observer 3 miles north northeast of Finland had 24-hour snowfall of 8.8. With several other neighboring reports of 6-10 of snow over the duration of the event.

Heavy Snow in CENTRAL ST. LOUIS, MINNESOTA
From 26-OCT-17 20:00:00 to 27-OCT-17 16:00:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Observer in Chisolm had measured snowfall of 8.3.

Blizzard in SOUTHERN ITASCA, MINNESOTA
From 26-OCT-17 20:30:00 to 27-OCT-17 15:00:00 (CST-6)
Reported by: Public

An observer in Coleraine had a snow measurement of 6 while another observer in Keewatin had 7.6 of snow.

Winter Storm in SOUTHERN ST. LOUIS / CARLTON, MINNESOTA
From 27-OCT-17 00:00:00 to 28-OCT-17 00:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Newspaper

A semi truck driver was killed when his vehicle slid off of the northbound lane of Interstate 35 near Scanlon into the St. Louis River. Roads were slick due to heavy, wet snow falling along with high winds. Wind gust measured by station KDYT was 55 kt at 12:41 AM CST.

Lakeshore Flood in SOUTHERN ST. LOUIS / CARLTON, MINNESOTA
From 27-OCT-17 00:00:00 to 28-OCT-17 00:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 3.50M
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Newspaper

Onshore waves and strong winds off of Lake Superior pummeled the shoreline around Duluth throwing rocks and upending concrete-based walkways. Portions of the the Duluth Lakewalk, Brighton Beach, Canal Park, and Park Point were damaged. A disaster declaration was authorized by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton for $2.12 million from the state and $1.38 million from the local governments totaling $3.5 million for repairs and cleanup. $2.5 million in damage was just in the city of Duluth alone with damage found also along Scenic Highway 61.