Extreme Cold in Minnesota, March 11, 2009

Name: Extreme Cold in Minnesota, March 11, 2009
Start: 2009-03-11T03:35
End: 2009-03-11T04:29
Location: Minnesota

March 11, 2009 · NWS ARX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Strong winds and plummeting temperatures combined to produce very cold wind chills during the early morning hours of March 11th.

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.

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: 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 ARX wrote it up.

Strong winds and plummeting temperatures combined to produce very cold wind chills during the early morning hours of March 11th.

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 Mar 10, 12:59 PM CST, 14 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 10, 12:59 PM CST, 14 hours 36 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 10, 4:40 PM CST, 10 hours 55 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

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

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Mower

When: March 11, 3:35 AM CST
Where: Mower forecast zone
Reported by: Broadcast Media
Coordinates: 43.672, -92.752 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A wind chill of -31 deg F was recorded at Grand Meadow.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Olmsted

When: March 11, 4:29 AM CST
Where: Olmsted forecast zone
Reported by: Broadcast Media
Coordinates: 44.004, -92.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A wind chill of -31 deg F was recorded in Rochester at a local high school.

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, March 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 158716, 158717.