This winter has been a doozy. With over 80 inches of snow, we’re currently sitting at the eighth snowiest winter on record in the Twin Cities. And between the shoveling, snow emergencies, potholes and parking fiascos, most of us are ready to be done.
But this week’s forecast has other plans, and could put us into the seventh spot for snowiest winters in Twin Cities history. So, without further ado, here are the top snowiest winters in Twin Cities history, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
- 1983-84 is at the number one spot, with 98.6 inches of snow. On April 14, the Twin Cities were hit with 13.6 inches of snow, a shock to those already mentally in spring mode.
- 1981-82 comes in second with 95 inches, it was a snowy couple years there in the early 80’s.
- 1950-51 takes third place with 88.9 inches of snow. Bronze!
- 2010-2011 was the snowiest Twin Cities winter in *recent* memory with 86.6 inches of snow. Between December 10th and 12th, we had the largest snowfall since the 1991 Halloween blizzard. They measured 17.1 inches of snow at the airport.
- 1916-17 had a total snowfall of 84.9 inches. The snowblower wasn’t invented until 1925, and the first one wasn’t sold until 1927, 10 years after this historic storm. Tough luck.
- 1991-92 was the infamous year of the Halloween Blizzard. With 28.4 inches of snow falling during the storm, it set the tone for the winter. The total snowfall landed the season in 6th place, with a total 84.1 inches of snow. According to Minnpost, the storm caused $11.7 million in estimated economic losses.
- 1961-62 came in 7th place with 81.3 inches of snow. It was a snowy winter for the rest of the United States as well. The day before John F. Kennedy’s inauguration, Washington D.C. was hit with eight inches of snow, and caused a car carrying JFK and former president Harry Truman to skid into the snow.
- 2022-2023’s snowfall so far has landed us in 8th place with 80.3 inches. This data is up until March 13, 2023 and as history tells us, spring in Minnesota can be deceptively snowy. We’ll need only one inch of snow to take 7th place, and with between 1 and 3 inches of snow predicted for this weekend, we could be bumped higher.
- 1951-1952 saw 79 inches of snow, landing it in the top 10 of the snowiest winters. In Duluth two years prior, they got 131.8 inches of snow, setting the record for snowiest winter in Duluth’s history.
- 1966-1967 garnered 78.4 inches of snow, a not so measly winter that would precede the summer of love.
The jury’s still out on this year’s total snowfall, but at least a top 10 spot gives a little validation to all of our shoveling, salting, and suffering.
