Minnesota, 2007

Extreme Cold in Minnesota, January 12, 2007

January 12, 2007 · NWS FGF · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Surface high pressure built down across the western high plains with a very cold airmass associated with it. By the morning of the 12th, temperatures fell to -18F to -28F across northeast North Dakota and the extreme northwest corner of Minnesota.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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
3

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.

Surface high pressure built down across the western high plains with a very cold airmass associated with it. By the morning of the 12th, temperatures fell to -18F to -28F across northeast North Dakota and the extreme northwest corner of Minnesota. Just enough of a surface pressure gradient remained over the area to keep northwest winds at 10 to 15 mph. This combination of very cold air and steady northwest wind speeds kept wind chill readings from -40F to -50F through the morning hours of the 12th.

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 Jan 12, 2:55 AM CST, 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 12, 2:55 AM CST, 14 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 11, 5:59 AM CST, 21 hours 10 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
559 AM CST THU JAN 11 2007

NDZ006-007-014-015-024-121200-
TOWNER-CAVALIER-BENSON-RAMSEY-EDDY-
559 AM CST THU JAN 11 2007

...WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON TODAY...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS BETWEEN 22 BELOW AND 30 BELOW ZERO ARE
EXPECTED THIS MORNING AS NORTHWEST WINDS 20 TO 25 MPH CONTINUE AND
COLDER AIR FLOWS INTO THE AREA. THIS ARCTIC AIR WILL CONTINUE
FLOWING INTO THE REGION FROM CANADA AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM
MOVING EASTWARD ALSO CAUSES STIFF WINDS.

TONIGHTS LOW TEMPERATURES WILL DIP TO BETWEEN 15 BELOW AND 20
BELOW. THAT COMBINED WITH NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH WILL
COMBINE TO REACH 30 BELOW TO 40 BELOW ZERO BY LATE TONIGHT.

DRESS APPROPRIATELY IF VENTURING OUTDOORS AND CARRY A WINTER
SURVIVAL KIT IF YOU MUST TRAVEL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

WIND CHILLS WILL PERIODICALLY EXCEED 25 BELOW ZERO THROUGH
WEDNESDAY...ESPECIALLY DURING NIGHTS AND MORNINGS. ARCTIC AIR
WILL PERSISTENTLY FLOW SOUTHWARD FROM CANADA AND CREATE BITTER
COLD CONDITIONS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE REQUIRED.

MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ008-016-026>030-038-039-
049-052>054-121200-
WEST POLK-NORMAN-CLAY-KITTSON-ROSEAU-LAKE OF THE WOODS-
WEST MARSHALL-EAST MARSHALL-NORTH BELTRAMI-PENNINGTON-RED LAKE-
EAST POLK-NORTH CLEARWATER-SOUTH BELTRAMI-MAHNOMEN-
SOUTH CLEARWATER-HUBBARD-WEST BECKER-EAST BECKER-WILKIN-
WEST OTTER TAIL-EAST OTTER TAIL-WADENA-GRANT-PEMBINA-
EASTERN WALSH COUNTY-NELSON-GRAND FORKS-GRIGGS-STEELE-TRAILL-
BARNES-CASS-RANSOM-SARGENT-RICHLAND-WESTERN WALSH COUNTY-
559 AM CST THU JAN 11 2007

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

WIND CHILLS WILL PERIODICALLY EXCEED 25 BELOW ZERO THROUGH
WEDNESDAY...ESPECIALLY DURING NIGHTS AND MORNINGS. ARCTIC AIR
WILL PERSISTENTLY FLOW SOUTHWARD FROM CANADA AND CREATE BITTER
COLD CONDITIONS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE REQUIRED.

GV

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Kittson

When
January 12, 3:09 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Kittson forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
48.777, -96.783 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, West Marshall

When
January 12, 3:09 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
West Marshall forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
48.358, -96.368 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, West Polk

When
January 12, 3:09 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
West Polk forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
47.774, -96.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Minnesota in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, January 2007

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 7079, 7080, 7081.