Sometimes, events foreshadow future challenges, especially when it comes to keeping the weather out.

On Nov. 19, 1981, 44 years ago today, a snowstorm hammered the upper Midwest, dumping 10 inches of snow in Minneapolis-St. Paul, and creating near whiteout conditions in other parts of Minnesota.

At that time, a new indoor stadium — the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome — was under construction and would become the new home of the Minnesota Twins in April 1982 and both the Golden Gophers and Vikings the following fall.

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The dome's fabric-covered roof was supported by air pressure. That's OK most of the time, except when heavy snow piles on that roof.

The weight of that heavy snow in November 1981 caused the roof to tear and then collapse.

Roof damage would happen four other times. The day before New Year's Eve 1982, a crane used for removing snow from the roof instead punctured it, causing it to deflate days before the Vikings would host the Dallas Cowboys.

The following April, another heavy snowstorm tore and deflated the roof and forced the postponement of a Twins game. And in April 1986, it was high winds that caused a slight tear in the roof (but didn't cause a deflation), briefly delaying another Twins game.

But arguably the most memorable Metrodome collapse was after a December 2010 snowstorm dumped 17 inches of wet, heavy snow driven by strong winds, one of the Twin Cities' heaviest snowstorms on record.

The Metrodome was demolished in 2014. The Vikings still play indoors at U.S. Bank Stadium while the Twins and Gophers play outside at Target Field and Huntington Bank Stadium, respectively.

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.