Ice Storm in Minnesota, January 29 to 30, 2001

Name: Ice Storm in Minnesota, January 29 to 30, 2001
Start: 2001-01-29T13:00
End: 2001-01-30T01:00
Location: Minnesota

January 29 to 30, 2001 · NWS ARX · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Freezing rain produced ice accumulations of 1/4 to 1/2 inch, prompting schools and several businesses to close. Only a few automobile accidents were reported due to icy roads and there were no serious injuries.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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: 7

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 ARX wrote it up.

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 La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 29, 3:06 AM CST, 9 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 3:06 AM CST, 9 hours 54 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
306 AM CST MON JAN 29 2001

...MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM WILL BE THE MAJOR ICE STORM TODAY AND
TONIGHT...

DATA ANALYSIS SHOWING FREEZING RAIN...SLEET AND SNOW BEGINNING ACROSS
THE FORECAST AREA.  THE SNOW FROM KLSE-KONA-KAEL AND NORTH...SLEET
JUST SOUTH OF THIS LINE...AND FREEZING RAIN SPREADING ACROSS
NORTHEAST IOWA AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN.  HEAVIER FREEZING
RAIN FALLING ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS.

LOW PRESSURE REMAINS OVER THE SOUTH-CENTRAL PLAINS WITH A TROUGH
EXTENDING NORTHEAST FROM THIS LOW INTO THE MID MISSISSIPPI RIVER
VALLEY.  MAIN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM STILL REMAINS OVER THE SOUTHWEST.
TEMPERATURES HAVE FALLEN INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS ACROSS THE NORTHERN
HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA...WITH TEENS OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE
AREA.  RWIS DATA SHOWING ROAD SURFACE TEMPERATURES RANGING FROM 10
TO 15 FROM WHITEHALL AND BLACK RIVER FALLS NORTH...TO 24 ACROSS IOWA
AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN.

MODELS INITIALIZED QUITE WELL WITH THIS SYSTEM...ETA FAVORED AT 06Z
GIVEN PLACEMENT OF PRECIPITATION.  ALTHOUGH PRECIPITATION
DEVELOPING OVER THE FORECAST AREA...THIS IS NOT THE MAIN EVENT.
MODERATE TO STRONG SYNOPTIC SCALE DEEP FORCING ARRIVES THIS
AFTERNOON...WHICH WILL INDUCE AT LEAST MODERATE PRECIPITATION.
FORECAST SOUNDINGS SUGGEST THAT THE PRECIPITATION SHOULD BE
FREEZING RAIN BY THEN.  MODEL QPFS RATHER OMINOUS GIVEN THE
FORECAST 24 HOUR AMOUNT OF 1/2 TO ONE INCH OF LIQUID.  THIS WOULD
CAUSE SERIOUS ICING CONDITIONS BUT IT IS BELIEVABLE GIVEN THE AMOUNT
OF MOISTURE FLUX AND FORCING.

BY TONIGHT...ENOUGH WARM AIR BEING PULLED INTO THE SYSTEM TO
POSSIBLY CHANGE THE FREEZING RAIN TO RAIN ACROSS THE EXTREME
SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA (KALO-KLNR).  HOWEVER...
TERRESTRIAL OBJECTS MAY STILL BE BELOW FREEZING GIVEN THE RECENT
COLD SNAP.  PRECIPITATION SHOULD CONTINUE OVERNIGHT...UNTIL DRY PUNCH
WORKS ITS WAY INTO THE FORECAST AREA FROM THE SOUTH.  THIS WILL SHUT
OFF THE PRECIPITATION ABOUT 30/10Z FROM KLSE-KRST SOUTH...GRADUALLY
WORKING ITS WAY NORTH DURING THE MORNING.

AS A RESULT...TUESDAY WILL BE PRIMARILY DRY...BUT SNOW WILL BE
POSSIBLE AGAIN BY TUESDAY NIGHT ACROSS THE MINNESOTA AND IOWA ZONES
AS THE STORM MOVES EAST.  BY THIS TIME...MUCH COLDER AIR WILL BE
PULLED INTO THE REGION VIA NORTHWEST FLOW.

AS A RESULT OF THE IMPENDING ICE...AN ICE STORM WARNING WILL BE
ISSUED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST AREA.

COORDINATED WITH DVN/DMX/MKX/MPX/GRB.

.LSE...ICE STORM WARNING FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT...IAZ008>011-018-019-
       029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ032>034-041>044-053>055-061.
       ICE STORM WARNING FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...WIZ017-029.

KRC

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Ice Storm, Mower

When: January 29, 1:00 PM CST to January 30, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Mower forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.672, -92.752 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Fillmore

When: January 29, 1:00 PM CST to January 30, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Fillmore forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.674, -92.090 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Olmsted

When: January 29, 2:00 PM CST to January 30, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Olmsted forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 44.004, -92.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Houston

When: January 29, 2:00 PM CST to January 30, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Houston forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.671, -91.493 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Dodge

When: January 29, 2:00 PM CST to January 30, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Dodge forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 44.023, -92.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Winona

When: January 29, 3:00 PM CST to January 30, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Winona forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 43.987, -91.779 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Wabasha

When: January 29, 4:00 PM CST to January 30, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Wabasha forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 44.284, -92.230 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Ice Storm: Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.

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, January 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: 5228147, 5228149, 5228146, 5228148, 5228150, 5228151, 5228152.