How much winter weather does the Twin Cities usually experience in spring?

Minnesota lakes remain frozen. The people walking on trails around them remain bundled up. After a warm start to March, the seasonal shift is sputtering as it often tends to do.

"It's like we go through this every year and I'm still like shocked and appalled by it," said Karna Bloomquist.

So, how much winter do we usually experience in spring? WCCO spoke with Kenny Blumenfeld, a senior climatologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

"You usually get some snow in either March or April, sometimes both. Sometimes you get a big one in one of those months," Blumenfeld said.

In southern Minnesota, including the Twin Cities, Blumenfeld said the months of March and April will net a total of 10-14 inches of snow on average. In recent years however, April snowfall wasn't necessary to hit those marks.

There was 11.2 inches of snow in the metro in March 2025. The year prior, there was 15.2 inches in March and 15.5 inches in March 2023. 

"From March 10 through the rest of spring, typically we would see another 8 inches or so," Blumenfeld said.

But all that fresh powder often isn't fresh on people's minds. 

"It seems to us that people won't really remember a snowstorm after the main snowpack melts unless it was a doozy. Unless it canceled lots of school and really messed up the roads," Blumenfeld said.

To his credit, that's exactly why Megan Corcoran remembered a recent spring snowstorm. 

"My son's birthday is April 16 and a few years ago, I had to wake him up and say he had a snow day," Corcoran said.

Notable years in which April had lots of snow in the metro include 2018, when there was 26.1 inches that month. In 2013, there was 17.9 inches of snow in April.

Once April ends, it usually takes the snow with it. The last measurable amount in May in the metro was half an inch in 2013. But that specific month was memorable for some Minnesotans.

"From May 1 to May 3 [in 2013], there was a swath of southern and southeastern Minnesota that received over a foot of snow," Blumenfeld said. "Dodge Center had 17.2 inches of snow."

The good thing is snow melts quickly this time of year, unless we're stuck in a frigid rut. How often are there days below freezing in spring?

"In March, it wouldn't be unusual to have a dozen or so days where the temperature stays below freezing, but a lot of times those are tilted towards the beginning of the month," Blumenfeld said.

He says below-freezing days are even rare in April — even more reason why a blast of winter so late in the season feels like a surly surprise.

"I'd like to be surprised by 65 [degrees] and sunny," Bloomquist said.

Click here to see the history of snowfall totals by month in the Twin Cities.