Historic May Snowstorms
Snow at Cross Lutheran Church, (Present Day Maplewood) May 12, 1946
Courtesy the Maplewood Area Historical Society
Snow that falls in May is typically a novelty. The ground is usually too warm by May to allow much of an accumulation. Looking at past records for the Twin Cities, a trace of snow falls during the month of May fairly frequently, with the last wind swept flurries reported on May 1 and 2, 2005. If the snow manages to accumulate it is generally under an inch and mostly on grassy surfaces. About once every 30 years or so, there is a snow event that is enough to cover newly greened lawns and coat budding leaves. The last time there was a snow event in May greater than an inch in the Twin Cities was on May 2, 1976 with 1.2 inches. The most that it has snowed in May in a single event for the Twin Cities is three inches. This has happened on three occasions: May 20, 1892, May 1, 1935 and May 11-12, 1946.
Top Ten largest May Snowfalls for the Twin Cities 1892-2007
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Rank Date Year Amount (in)
#1. May 20 1892 3.0
May 1 1935 3.0 (Tie)
May 11-12 1946 3.0 (Tie)
#4 May 2-3 1954 2.4
#5 May 18 1915 2.0
#6 May 1 1909 1.8
#7 May 2 1976 1.2
#8 May 8 1923 .5
#9 May 9 1924 .4
#10 May 1 1967 .3
May 5 1991 .3 (Tie)
Snow on a Deserted Street in Dawson, MN Lac Qui Parle County on May 20, 1892
Courtesy the Minnesota Historical Society
The 1892 event caused some excitement as noted in a letter written from Herbert Carleton in Northfield to his mother Mrs. Alford Carleton, in Hartford Connecticut about the May 19-20 1892 snowfall.
Northfield, Minn May 22,1892 Dear Mother, This is a bright sunny day, the first of the kind Northfield has seen for a long time. For several weeks, they say, it has rained every day. Last Thursday evening (the 19th) after some rain it turned to snow and the next morning an inch of snow lay on the grass. People were taking photographs of the green trees decked with snow. Apple blossoms are just breaking out to-day. Maple leaves are pretty well out. Grass is about six inches high excepting in the lawns where it is kept cut... Yours Affectionately, HerbertClimate historian Tom St. Martin looked at the May 19-20 1892 snow event in detail, and casts some doubt on how much snow was reported.
...Much of Minnesota was covered with several inches of snow during a record late season snowstorm on 19-20 May 1892. St. Paul observers recorded 1.8 inches of snowfall on 20 May, a value which, so far as can be determined, was derived by multiplying the liquid precipitation recorded during the snowfall event by a factor of ten (i.e. by the conventional meltwater/snowfall ratio). So far as can be determined, however, this method greatly overstated the amount of snow which accumulated in urbanized areas of the Twin Cities: had they followed modern record keeping practices, St. Paul observers would probably have recorded a 20 May 1892 snowfall of no more than one half inch. Evidence supporting this conclusion was found in two recently discovered newspaper articles, the first of which appeared in the 20 May 1892 edition of the St. Paul Globe. According to this account "...the day [19 May] was cold and dreary enough...to make everyone look ...gloomy...at six o'clock the familiar patter of rain against the window panes was heard again and the friendly umbrella was once more hoisted...It was a cold nasty rain until nine o'clock when it changed to snow that swept against the pedestrian in a way that drove chills all over his frame. AT ELEVEN O'CLOCK A GENUINE MARCH BLIZZARD WAS IN PROGRESS. THE SNOW MELTED AS SOON AS IT TOUCHED THE GROUND (emphasis added) and made the pavement far more disagreeable for walking purposes than the rain would have done...The storm was a surprise to the Weather Bureau as it was thought it had quitted this vicinity....". The second of the two articles appeared in the 20 May 1892 edition of the Minneapolis Tribune. Although specific to Minneapolis, this account provides corroborating/additional evidence helpful in estimating the amount of snow which accumulated in developed areas of the Twin Cities (including St. Paul) on the dates involved. The Tribune story -- which opened with a headline proclaiming "Beautiful Snow Falls in Minneapolis and Other Minnesota Points" -- states as follows: snowfall began "...last evening between nine and ten o'clock...a dazzling drapery of the beautiful...at the hour stated...a heavy snowstorm set in. It was no gentle falling of the beautiful but, on the contrary, the snow came down with a stern business expression which would have done credit to a January blizzard. A high wind accompanied...The fall continued unabated until after midnight. AT THAT TIME, THE GROUND WAS COVERED IN PLACES TO THE DEPTH OF AN INCH, BUT AS A RULE ON ACCOUNT OF THE WET GROUND, IT MELTED AS SOON AS IT FELL.." (emphasis added). The Globe's snowfall story was accompanied by a report of an interview with P. F. Lyons who, at the time, was the chief observer at the then recently established St. Paul Weather Bureau office. After explaining (and excusing) his repeated failures to accurately predict the end of the extremely cold, wet weather which had plagued the Upper Midwest for several weeks prior, Lyons went on to predict a return to warmer, drier conditions. He also provided the Globe with the following record of St. Paul's "last snowfall of the season" for the period from 1875-1891: 1875 25 April 1883 22 April 1876 3 May 1884 9 April 1877 29 April 1885 8 May 1878 16 February 1886 1 April 1879 2 April 1887 25 April 1880 20 April 1888 4 May 1881 11 April 1889 2 April 1882 21 March 1890 17 May 1891 3 May
Looking further for all of Minnesota, there have certainly been more significant snowstorms father north. On May 3, 1950 10 inches of snow fell in Tower, with 8 inches reported in Virginia. Another more recent storm dropped 8.6 inches on May 19, 1971 in Grand Rapids. The "winner" appears to be a station 8 miles northeast of Leonard in Clearwater County that picked up a cool foot of snow on May 3, 1954.