Extreme Cold in Minnesota, December 13, 2009

Name: Extreme Cold in Minnesota, December 13, 2009
Start: 2009-12-13T02:00
End: 2009-12-13T10:00
Location: Minnesota

December 13, 2009 · NWS FGF · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

The combination of subzero temperatures and a brisk north to northwest wind produced wind chill readings colder than 40 below zero.

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.

The combination of subzero temperatures and a brisk north to northwest wind produced wind chill readings colder than 40 below zero.

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 Dec 12, 9:20 PM CST, 4 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 12, 9:20 PM CST, 4 hours 40 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 12, 3:58 PM CST, 10 hours 2 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
358 PM CST SAT DEC 12 2009

MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-132200-
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-TOWNER-CAVALIER-
PEMBINA-BENSON-RAMSEY-EASTERN WALSH COUNTY-EDDY-NELSON-
GRAND FORKS-GRIGGS-STEELE-TRAILL-BARNES-CASS-RANSOM-SARGENT-
RICHLAND-WESTERN WALSH COUNTY-
358 PM CST SAT DEC 12 2009

...WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON SUNDAY...

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

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

ARCTIC AIR MOVING SOUTH OVER THE AREA THIS EVENING WILL COMBINE
WITH NORTHERLY WINDS OF 10 TO 15 MILES PER HOUR TO LOWER WIND
CHILLS INTO THE 30 TO 40 BELOW RANGE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

ANOTHER WIND CHILL ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED FOR SUNDAY NIGHT IN THE
NORTHWEST HALF OF THE AREA AND FOR MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA FOR
MONDAY NIGHT. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED FOR THE
SOUTHERN ZONES SUNDAY NIGHT.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

HOPKINS

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: December 13, 2:00 AM CST to 10:00 AM CST
Where: Kittson forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 48.777, -96.783 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Roseau

When: December 13, 2:00 AM CST to 10:00 AM CST
Where: Roseau forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 48.775, -95.811 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, West Marshall

When: December 13, 2:00 AM CST to 10:00 AM CST
Where: West Marshall forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 48.358, -96.368 (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

Every storm in Minnesota in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, December 2009

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: 199021, 199022, 199023.