Blizzard, Big Stone
- When
- December 16, 8:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
- Where
- Big Stone forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 45.426, -96.411 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Blizzard in Minnesota, December 16, 2000
Northwest winds of 30 to 50 mph combined with the newly fallen snow and arctic air to bring widespread blizzard conditions and extreme wind chills to 60 below to west central Minnesota. Events were canceled and travel was shutdown.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS ABR wrote it up.
Northwest winds of 30 to 50 mph combined with the newly fallen snow and arctic air to bring widespread blizzard conditions and extreme wind chills to 60 below to west central Minnesota. Events were canceled and travel was shutdown.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Blizzard, Traverse
- When
- December 16, 8:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
- Where
- Traverse forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 45.772, -96.472 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Blizzard
- Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornado in Alabama, December 16, 2000
- Tornadoes in Alabama, December 16, 2000
- Tornado in Alabama, December 16, 2000
- High Wind in Louisiana, December 16, 2000
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, December 16, 2000
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Georgia, December 16 to 17, 2000
- Tornado in Alabama, December 16, 2000
- Extreme Cold and Lightning Strike in Tennessee, December 16, 2000
- Tornado in Florida, December 16, 2000
- Tornado in Georgia, December 16, 2000
- Extreme Cold in Illinois, December 16 to 17, 2000
- Tornado in Alabama, December 16, 2000
More
Every storm in Minnesota in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, December 2000
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5177167, 5177168.