LITCHFIELD -- Students in the Litchfield School district had to wait until March to enjoy a snow day this year, but better late than never.
A March snow storm brought three inches of snow to the Litchfield area on Monday, representing .32 inch of moisture, reported Glenn Young of Litchfield. Young is well-known throughout the area for his weather observations for aviation, and his daily weather programs on Litchfield radio.
Winds gusted to as high as 32 mph in Hutchinson, said Young. The winds caused drifting and visibility problems on roadways throughout the region through the day and into the night hours. Schools throughout west central Minnesota delayed their openings by two hours and some, including Litchfield, cancelled classes.
The storm brought very difficult driving conditions, with ice-covered roads and poor visibility through the region, the Minnesota Department of Transportation's district 8 office in Willmar warned.
Young said the storm system that delivered the early March punch is very typical of the famed "tournament time" storms experienced in Minnesota. The storms are able to tap moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, but drop most of the water as snow due to the cold air that still predominates.
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Young said much of this area fell on the north side of the storm track, and consequently escaped the real brunt of the storm.
The spring snowstorm first hit the Twin Cities, dumping 7 to 12 inches of snow and snarling rush-hour traffic, forcing school closings, delaying flights and knocking out power to tens of thousands of Xcel Energy customers.
Then the brunt of the storm rolled into southeastern Minnesota, where the National Weather Service reported Hastings got 18 inches.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report
