To-day, October 20, is forecasted a significant snow fall across the Twin Cities and much of central and southern Minnesota. According to the Minnesota State Climatology Office, as quoted in the Tribune, October snowfalls are not uncommon in the Minnesota.

From 1884 through 2019, 45 out of 136 Octobers in the Twin Cities have seen at least one day with measurable snow.

Minnesota State Climatology Office (source: Star Tribune)

According to the Tribune, by Tuesday night the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport had 7.9 inches of snow, shattering the previous record for Oct. 20 of 3 inches, set in 1916, and nearly besting the all-time snowiest October day in the Twin Cities.

The largest snowfall for Oct. 20 is 3 inches, which occurred in 1916. That also is the third-biggest single snowfall ever recorded in October in the Twin Cities. The second-largest snowfall for the metro in October was 5.5 inches on Oct. 29, 1905. The largest belongs to the Halloween snowstorm of 1991 that dropped 8.2 inches on Oct. 31, and by the time the storm wrapped up two days later, blanketed the Twin Cities 28.4 inches, weather records show.

Star Tribune

The Oct 31, 1991 record “will remain untouched for quite a while,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Brent Hewett.

Snowiest October Snow

On October 23, MPR chief meteorologist Paul Huttner wrote that “It’s official: Twin Cities sets new record for snowiest October. The 8.9-inch of snow recorded so far this month sets a new record for the snowiest October on record in the Twin Cities.”

This post was updated on October 25, 2020.