UPPER MICHIGAN -- If you were around for Sunday afternoon's snow, you may have witnessed something a little different falling from the sky.
Brown snow, as shown in pictures taken near Duluth, Minnesota, was reported in many areas across the upper Midwest on Sunday.
The cause? Strong southerly winds kicked up dirt and dust in the Plains. These winds were out ahead of a storm system that brought snow to our region. When the snow fell, it appeared to have a brownish tint.
This isn't the first time this has happened.
"Two years ago we had the same type of occurrence," said National Weather Service Meteorologist Matt Zika. "But that snow actually had a reddish hue to it because the dust came out of New Mexico or west Texas that was brought up in the storm system and transported all the way up here to Upper Michigan, caused some of the snow that fell to have a reddish appearance to it."
Meteorologists were able to track the dust cloud as it moved northwards through the Plains.
The dirt particles picked up from the group reached thousands of feet in height.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWLUC