Winter Storm in Minnesota, February 23 to 25, 2001

Name: Winter Storm in Minnesota, February 23 to 25, 2001
Start: 2001-02-23T19:15
End: 2001-02-25T11:47
Location: Minnesota

February 23 to 25, 2001 · NWS FGF · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

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 FGF wrote it up.

A Colorado Low moved from eastern Nebraska into southeast Minnesota, bringing two periods of snow to northwest and west central Minnesota. The first band of snow moved across the area the evening of the 23rd, starting out as freezing drizzle across west central Minnesota. A widespread swath of one to three inches of snow fell over the area with the first snow band. More snow fell on the 24th, and wind speeds also increased. The strongest wind speeds occurred on the 25th, with Baudette reporting a peak wind of 32 mph and Park Rapids reporting a peak wind of 35 mph. A total of 5 to 10 inches of snow fell across the area. In Hubbard county, a 45 year-old woman was found near her car in a ditch just north of Park Rapids. She chose to ignore the warnings and ended up in critical condition from frostbite and hypothermia.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 23, 2:15 PM CST, 5 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 23, 2:15 PM CST, 5 hours before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
215 PM CST FRI FEB 23 2001

...CHALLENGE WILL BE IMPENDING WINTER STORM...

.OVERVIEW...
SOUTHEAST FLOW HAS DEVELOPED ACROSS FA...WITH SFC HIGH DRIFTING
SOUTHEAST INTO THE OHIO VALLEY. LEE SIDE LOW IS DEVELOPING AHEAD OF
POTENT WAVE DIGGING INTO SOUTHERN CA...WITH 135KT SPEED MAX AT 300
MB. AVN DID A GREAT JOB WITH THIS FEATURE...WITH THE ETA TOO WEAK.
THEREFORE...WILL GO WITH A STRONGER SNOWIER AVN FOR THIS RUN...WITH
ETA COMING MORE IN LINE THAN PREVIOUS RUN FROM 00Z.

.SHORT TERM...
SNOW BAND WILL DEVELOP AND MOVE FROM SOUTH TO NORTH
OVERNIGHT ON LEADING EDGE OF STRONG MID LEVEL WARM AIR ADVECTION.
THIS SHOULD PRODUCE A GENERAL 1-3 INCH SNOW FALL AS GOOD I290K
ISENTROPIC LIFT ENSUES. WITH SOUTHEAST WINDS ALSO BLOWING FROM 15 TO
25 MPH...WILL HIT BLOWING SNOW IN ZONES BUT NOT HIT ANY HEADLINES
FOR TONIGHT.

.LONG TERM...
SFC LOW EJECTS INTO WESTERN KS SATURDAY MORNING...THEN INTO CENTRAL
IOWA BY 06Z SUN. DEFORMATION SNOW BAND WILL RAPIDLY DEVELOP ACROSS
SOUTHEAST ND BY SAT AFTERNOON...THEN SPREAD NORTHEAST INTO ALL BUT
NORTHWEST FA BY 00Z SUN. INTENSE 850 MB POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE
ADVECTION AND MIXING RATIOS TO 0.8 G/KG NEAR SOUTHEAST FA PERSIST
UNTIL 12 SUN. THIS WILL PROMOTE INTENSE SNOW RATES SAT NIGHT INTO
SUNDAY MORNING ACROSS SOUTHEAST ND NORTHEAST INTO NORTH CENTRAL MN.
THEREFORE...WILL BE ISSUING WINTER STORM WARNING HERE SAT
AFTERNOON-SUN. FURTHER NORTH AND WEST...EXPECT LIGHT AMOUNTS OF SNOW
WITH PARENT COMMA HEAD AND HEAVIER DEFORMATION SNOW TO THE
SOUTHEAST. EVEN HERE THOUGH EXPECT ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1-4
INCHES...POSSIBLY MORE IF CANADIAN MODEL VERIFIES. THIS COUPLED WITH
STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS COULD PRODUCE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OVER MOST
OF FA SAT NIGHT AND SUNDAY. THEREFORE...WILL CONTINUE WATCH FOR REST OF FA
FROM COOPERSTOWN-GFK-ROX AND POINTS NORTH AND WEST FOR SAT
AFTERNOON-SUN...AND ADVISE EVENING CREW AS SUCH. FEEL SNOW AMOUNTS
ACROSS SOUTHEAST ND-PKD WILL EXCEED ONE FOOT. IF BLOCKING TO EAST IS
STRONGER THAN MODELS ARE CURRENTLY PROGGING...THIS WILL CAUSE LOW TO
PINWHEEL NORTH/NORTHWEST AND HEAVIEST SNOW BAND WOULD SHIFT FURTHER
NORTH AND WEST...SO STAY TUNED.

.EXTENDED...SPLIT FLOW AT THE START OF THE PERIOD WITH ANOTHER H5
CUTOFF LOW OVER THE SW US AND NW FLOW OVER THE NRN PLAINS. THIS
TRANSITIONS TO MORE OF A FLAT WESTERLY FLOW TOWARD THE END OF THE
PERIOD. CANADIAN/AVN/MRF SHOWING A WEAK SFC LOW OVER THE AREA ON
MON...ALTHOUGH QPF MINIMAL. MAIN SFC FEATURE IS ANOTHER HIGH
DROPPING S OUT OF CANADA ON TUE WITH ANOTHER BLAST OF ARCTIC AIR FOR
TUE/WED. MODERATING TREND FOLLOWS TOWARD THE END OF THE WEEK.

COORD WITH MSP/DLH/BIS AND ABR...THANKS!

.FGF...WINTER STORM WARNING SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY ALONG
AND SOUTHEAST OF A LIASBON TO FARGO TO FOSSTON TO BAUDETTE LINE.
WINTER STORM WATCH SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY FOR REST OF AREA.

KELLENBENZ/GODON

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, South Clearwater

When: February 23, 7:15 PM CST to February 25, 11:47 AM CST
Where: South Clearwater forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.578, -95.379 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Hubbard

When: February 23, 7:15 PM CST to February 25, 11:47 AM CST
Where: Hubbard forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.109, -94.917 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Wadena

When: February 23, 7:15 PM CST to February 25, 11:47 AM CST
Where: Wadena forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.586, -94.969 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, East Polk

When: February 23, 7:15 PM CST to February 25, 11:47 AM CST
Where: East Polk forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.774, -96.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lake of the Woods

When: February 23, 7:15 PM CST to February 25, 11:47 AM CST
Where: Lake of the Woods forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 48.771, -94.905 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, North Beltrami

When: February 23, 7:15 PM CST to February 25, 11:47 AM CST
Where: North Beltrami forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.974, -94.938 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, South Beltrami

When: February 23, 7:15 PM CST to February 25, 11:47 AM CST
Where: South Beltrami forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.974, -94.938 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, North Clearwater

When: February 23, 7:15 PM CST to February 25, 11:47 AM CST
Where: North Clearwater forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.578, -95.379 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Minnesota in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, February 2001

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: 5229901, 5229902, 5229903, 5229904, 5233195, 5233196, 5233197, 5233198.