Ice Storm in Minnesota, November 27 to 29, 2005

Name: Ice Storm in Minnesota, November 27 to 29, 2005
Start: 2005-11-27T09:00
End: 2005-11-29T03:00
Location: Minnesota

November 27 to 29, 2005 · NWS ABR · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

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.

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Open the live radar over this ground

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.

Widespread freezing rain began across Big Stone and Traverse counties during the morning of the 27th and continued through the night and into the morning of the 28th. Ice accumulations between 1 and 2 inches were common across both counties. The freezing rain changed over to snow on the 28th and northwest winds increased to 30 to 40 mph with gusts to 50 mph. The high winds and heavy ice accumulations caused hundreds of power poles and many miles of power lines to come down resulting in widespread power outages for many communities and rural areas. The power was out for some locations for over 10 days. Schools, businesses, government offices, and many organizations were closed for several days. Roads across Big Stone and Traverse counties became treacherous resulting in many accidents. Shelters were set up for those who did not have generator power or another place to go. This was one of the worst ice storms in history. After the icing, came snowfall of 3 to 6 inches which combined with the high winds to bring blizzard conditions to Big Stone and Travese counties from the late morning of the 28th until the early morning of the 29th.

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 Aberdeen, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 27, 4:44 AM CST, 4 hours 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 27, 4:44 AM CST, 4 hours 16 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 27, 5:38 AM CST, 3 hours 22 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
538 AM CST SUN NOV 27 2005

MNZ039-046-SDZ007-008-011-019>023-281145-
TRAVERSE-BIG STONE-MARSHALL-ROBERTS-DAY-CLARK-CODINGTON-GRANT-
HAMLIN-DEUEL-
538 AM CST SUN NOV 27 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL
MINNESOTA AND NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SIGNIFICANT ICE AND SNOW ACCUMULATIONS HAVE PROMPTED A WINTER
STORM WARNING FOR THIS AREA FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY
NIGHT. UPWARDS OF 1/2 INCH OF ICE ACCRETION AND 6 INCHES OF SNOW
ACCUMULATION ARE EXPECTED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

SNOWFALL SHOULD END BY MONDAY NIGHT WITH UPWARDS OF 6 INCHES OF
SNOW ACCUMULATION. ON MONDAY WINDS WILL PICK UP TO 30 TO 40 MPH
RESULTING IN REDUCED VISIBILITIES AND BLOWING SNOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
THOUGH NOT REQUIRED...SPOTTER SNOWFALL AND ICE ACCUMULATION REPORTS
WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED DURING THIS WINTER WEATHER EVENT.

SDZ004-005-009-010-016-017-034>036-048-281145-
CAMPBELL-MCPHERSON-WALWORTH-EDMUNDS-POTTER-FAULK-SULLY-HUGHES-
HYDE-LYMAN-
538 AM CST SUN NOV 27 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL SOUTH
DAKOTA AND NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS HAVE PROMPTED A WINTER STORM
WARNING FOR THIS AREA FOR THIS EVENING THROUGH MONDAY EVENING.
UPWARDS OF 6 TO 12 INCHES OF SNOW ACCUMULATION ARE EXPECTED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

SNOWFALL SHOULD END BY MONDAY EVENING WITH A TOTAL OF 6 TO 12
INCHES OF SNOW ACCUMULATION. ON MONDAY WINDS WILL PICK UP TO 30
TO 40 MPH RESULTING IN REDUCED VISIBILITIES AND BLOWING SNOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
THOUGH NOT REQUIRED...SPOTTER SNOWFALL AND ICE ACCUMULATION REPORTS
WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED DURING THIS WINTER WEATHER EVENT.

SDZ006-018-037-051-281145-
BROWN-SPINK-HAND-BUFFALO-
538 AM CST SUN NOV 27 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL SOUTH
DAKOTA AND NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SIGNIFICANT ICE AND SNOW ACCUMULATIONS HAVE PROMPTED A WINTER
STORM WARNING FOR THIS AREA FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY
NIGHT. UPWARDS OF 1/2 INCH OF ICE ACCRETION AND 6 INCHES OF SNOW
ACCUMULATION ARE EXPECTED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

SNOWFALL SHOULD END DURING MONDAY EVENING WITH A TOTAL OF 6 TO
12 INCHES OF SNOW ACCUMULATION. ON MONDAY...WINDS WILL PICK UP TO
30 TO 40 MPH RESULTING IN REDUCED VISIBILITIES AND BLOWING SNOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
THOUGH NOT REQUIRED...SPOTTER SNOWFALL AND ICE ACCUMULATION REPORTS
WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED DURING THIS WINTER WEATHER EVENT.

SDZ003-015-033-045-281145-
CORSON-DEWEY-STANLEY-JONES-
538 AM CST SUN NOV 27 2005 /438 AM MST SUN NOV 27 2005/

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL SOUTH
DAKOTA AND NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW IS IN EFFECET TONIGHT AND
MONDAY FOR AN AREA OF SNOWFALL WHICH WILL IMPACT THE OUTLOOK AREA
THIS EVENING THROUGH MID-DAY MONDAY. 1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOWFALL IS
EXPECTED OVERNIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

SNOWFALL SHOULD END DURING THE DAY ON MONDAY WITH A TOTAL OF 3 TO
5 INCHES OF SNOW ACCUMULATION. THEN...WINDS WILL PICK UP TO 30 TO
40 MPH RESULTING IN REDUCED VISIBILITIES AND BLOWING SNOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
THOUGH NOT REQUIRED...SPOTTER SNOWFALL AND ICE ACCUMULATION REPORTS
WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED DURING THIS WINTER WEATHER EVENT.

DORN

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Ice Storm, Big Stone

When: November 27, 9:00 AM CST to November 29, 3:00 AM CST
Where: Big Stone forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 45.426, -96.411 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Traverse

When: November 27, 10:00 AM CST to November 29, 3:00 AM CST
Where: Traverse forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 45.772, -96.472 (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 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, November 2005

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: 5484401, 5484402.