December 2022 Blizzard Enters History Books As Top-10 Two-Day Snowfall Event In Duluth
We've received a lot of snow, which isn't a surprise to anyone in the Northland. While it isn't done yet, snowfall totals have ranged between 20 to near 30 inches in places between Duluth and Grand Portage in the heaviest-hit areas along the Lake Superior North Shore.
As of 9 am Thursday morning, the National Weather Service shared an official snowfall total for their office (which is where official Duluth weather records are recorded/kept) of 21.4 inches of snow.
That number, 21.4 inches of snow, places this storm in the realm of top-10 two-day snow events for Duluth. Yup, we lived through (and are digging out of) some history!
Where does 21.4 inches rank in the history of two-day snow events in Duluth? Well, it isn't anywhere near the top spot. I know that can be hard to believe when considering how you feel after shoveling or snow-blowing this week, but it's actually been even worse!
Then, the National Weather Service dropped a new update on us late in the morning, sharing a new official total for Duluth of 22.7 inches of snow. Guess what, that moves us up the chart!
With the updated total, this week's snow event actually comes in as the 8th-highest two-day total ever recorded in Duluth. The number the NWS shared with us at 9 am would have tied us for 10th place all-time - tied with a storm in March of 1965.
The updated number later in the morning moves us up to 8th place, beating out a storm from 1917 that gave us 22.2 inches and another that dropped 21.7 inches of snow in a two-day period on Duluth back in 2019, and dropping that storm from 1965 off the top 10 list completely.
Here's a look at where we rank:
- 32.6 inches - Ending November 2, 1991 (Halloween Blizzard)
- 29.8 inches - Ending December 6, 1950
- 28.3 inches - Ending November 1, 1991 (Halloween Blizzard)
- 26.5 inches - Ending December 7, 1950
- 26.1 inches - Ending January 26, 2004
- 24.5 inches - Ending January 7, 1994
- 23.4 inches - Ending December 25, 2009
- 22.7 inches - Ending December 15, 2022
- 22.2 inches - Ending March 14, 1917
- 21.7 inches - Ending December 1, 2019