74th Anniversary of Le Mars May Snow Storm

The weather here in Iowa is like almost nothing else in the entire country. This Memorial Day weekend marks the 74th anniversary of the massive snowstorm that struck parts of the midwest.

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People who were around in 1947 and lived in Northeastern Iowa, Southeastern Minnesota, as well as Western Wisconsin, felt the wrath of this strange weather occurrence. After doing some deep diving I found that this is the latest snowfall that has occurred in Iowa on record.

Back in 1947...

On May 27th of 1947, a low-pressure system started to develop over parts of Nevada, and it was this pressure that leads to the snowstorm over a good chunk of the Midwest over the following few days, according to the National Weather Service. A high arctic pressure from Canada leads to the blistering cold air that this storm would need to fully form.

This storm occurred over the span of several days. The heaviest snowfall between May 27th to the 29th hit Gays Mills Wisconsin with 10 inches, according to the NWS. It turned out that this was the same snowfall total that Le Mars, IA got hit with during that same storm.

Northeastern Iowa got hit with a record breaking amount of snow during this time.

Total Snowfall In Northeastern Iowa according to the National Weather Service

Le Mars ~ 10 inches

Waukon ~ 7.5 inches

Mason City ~ 4.5 inches

Decorah ~ 3.2 inches

Osage ~ 1.5 inches

The record set by Le Mars with 10 inches was broken in 2013. In early May of that year,  several Iowa cities including Britt and Forest City got 10.5 inches. However, this 1947 storm is still according to reports, the latest snowfall that Iowa has gotten in recorded history.