Extreme Cold in Minnesota, January 29 to 30, 2008

Name: Extreme Cold in Minnesota, January 29 to 30, 2008
Start: 2008-01-29T06:00
End: 2008-01-30T12:00
Location: Minnesota

January 29 to 30, 2008 · NWS FGF · 24 events in 24 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 24 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: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 24

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 surface low tracked across North Dakota and into north central Minnesota on Monday, January 28th. A strong surface pressure gradient set up over eastern North Dakota and the northwest quarter of Minnesota as the low pushed into southwest Ontario Monday night. Cold air rushed into the area by Tuesday morning, which dropped temperatures to five below to twenty below zero, with the coldest temperatures in the Devils Lake (ND) region. Temperatures remained steady or continued to fall during the day Tuesday, with wind chills ranging from 40 below to 50 below zero. Tuesday night lows fell to the 20s below zero, with the coldest lows again around the Devils Lake (ND) region. High pressure finally built into the area on Wednesday afternoon, which allowed wind speeds to relax. Some schools cancelled classes on Tuesday, while several other schools started 2 hours late. A woman was found dead from hypothermia five miles north of East Grand Forks after she had apparently walked away from her stranded vehicle early Wednesday morning.

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 29, 3:10 AM CST, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 3:10 AM CST, 2 hours 50 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Kittson

When: January 29, 6:00 AM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Kittson forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 48.777, -96.783 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, West Marshall

When: January 29, 6:00 AM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: West Marshall forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 48.358, -96.368 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, West Polk

When: January 29, 6:00 AM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: West Polk forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 47.774, -96.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Norman

When: January 29, 6:00 AM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Norman forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 47.327, -96.455 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Clay

When: January 29, 6:00 AM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Clay forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 46.892, -96.491 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Wilkin

When: January 29, 6:00 AM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Wilkin forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 46.357, -96.468 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Roseau

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Roseau forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 48.775, -95.811 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Lake of the Woods

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Lake of the Woods forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 48.771, -94.905 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, East Marshall

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: East Marshall forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 48.358, -96.368 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, North Beltrami

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: North Beltrami forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 47.974, -94.938 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Pennington

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Pennington forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 48.066, -96.037 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Red Lake

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Red Lake forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 47.872, -96.095 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, East Polk

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: East Polk forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 47.774, -96.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, North Clearwater

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: North Clearwater forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 47.578, -95.379 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, South Beltrami

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: South Beltrami forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 47.974, -94.938 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Mahnomen

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Mahnomen forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 47.325, -95.809 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, South Clearwater

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: South Clearwater forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 47.578, -95.379 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Hubbard

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Hubbard forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 47.109, -94.917 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, West Becker

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: West Becker forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 46.935, -95.674 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, East Becker

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: East Becker forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 46.935, -95.674 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Wadena

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Wadena forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 46.586, -94.969 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, West Otter Tail

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: West Otter Tail forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 46.409, -95.708 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, East Otter Tail

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: East Otter Tail forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 46.409, -95.708 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Grant

When: January 29, 6:00 PM CST to January 30, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Grant forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 45.934, -96.012 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, West Polk	2008-01-30	52	Female	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

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

Every storm in Minnesota in 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, January 2008

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: 74822, 74823, 74824, 74825, 74826, 74827, 74828, 74829, 74830, 74831, 74832, 74833, 74834, 74835, 74836, 74837, 74838, 74839, 74840, 74841, 74842, 74843, 74844, 74845.