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The Snow Seemed Like A Trick; The Moisture Is A Treat

October 31, 2024 Steve Schwaller

(Spirit Lake)– A large part of the region woke up this (Thurs.) morning to the first snowfall of the season. Meteorologist Amanda Penning with the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls says accumulations were under an inch and were limited primarily to grassy areas…

“It wasn’t unexpected, it’s just the temperature trends had gone downward and so as we got closer the actual event and we were a little more certain about what the temperatures were going to be it started to become apparent that there was going to be some light snow in some of the areas.”

And even though it may seem early to see those first flakes of the season, Penning says it isn’t too far off from longtime norms…

“It’s a little earlier, I guess, than what we call average but it’s not unusual for us to have snow in late October here in the northwestern Iowa and southwestern Minnesota region, so no, it’s not unusual.”

Not unusual at all, especially for those of us who remember the infamous Halloween blizzard in 1991, when 14 inches of snow fell, combined with 40 mph wind.

And while the snow this (Thurs.) morning may have seemed like a trick, the moisture was a treat. It was the first measurable amount of moisture the area has seen for the entire month of October. As of 7:00 am, the rainfall and melted snow amounted to 75 one hundredths of an inch.

(Thanks to Community First Broadcasting station KAYL in Storm Lake for contributing to this story)

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