A new warning may have popped up in your newsfeed Thursday called a “Snow Squall Warning”. The first one issued by the National Weather Service in the Twin Cities happened near Monticello. A burst of snow occurred, and a multi-car accident and fire snarled traffic along I-94.
What does a Snow Squall Warning mean?
It is a polygon warning, generally 30-60 minutes in duration that is issued similar to severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings. The weather service began using the warning on November 1st.
Here is their description of the weather event:
"A snow squall is an intense short-lived burst of heavy snowfall that leads to a quick reduction in visibilities and is often accompanied by gusty winds. Sudden whiteout conditions and slick roadways can lead to high speed accidents with large pileups that result in injuries and fatalities. This new warning aims to bring better situational awareness to drivers and mitigate impacts related to these squalls.”
You can see in the image here how the intense burst of snow covered the freeway.
Brent Hewitt with the Twin Cities' National Weather Service told WCCO's Susie Jones that is usually associated with a potent cold front.
"They're usually pretty quick moving," Hewitt said. "While snowfall rates could be upwards of two inches per hour, they only usually last for about 30 minutes and are followed by some higher winds and a dropoff in temperatures. After a snow squall moves through, you'll generally see some pretty bad road conditions as the initial snow will melt, and the heavy snow will lay on top of that creating black ice conditions. They produce a lot of traffic issues especially along major interstates."
Hewitt said they are relatively rare in Minnesota. They're more common in the Northeast, or even in areas in Iowa along I-80. Most of the time, Minnesota doesn't get a "potent enough cold front," according to Hewitt.
With near white out conditions, the National Weather Service says travel actually becomes life-threatening in these situations.
It’s certainly something to take seriously, and is a warning the National Weather Service hopes will keep people out of dangerous situation. Keep an eye out for those squalls.
New warning took effect November 1st and Thursday is the first time it's been used
