An arctic air mass held across the Upper Midwest during this period. As surface winds remained in the 5 to 10 mph range, and temperatures fell to near 20 below zero, wind chill values dropped to 35 to 40 degrees below zero.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS MPX wrote it up.
An arctic air mass held across the Upper Midwest during this period. As surface winds remained in the 5 to 10 mph range, and temperatures fell to near 20 below zero, wind chill values dropped to 35 to 40 degrees below zero. The coldest wind chill was -38 at both Staples and Long Prairie.
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 Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 6, 11:28 PM CST, 32 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
1128 PM CST FRI DEC 6 2013
.UPDATE...
ISSUED AT 940 PM CST FRI DEC 6 2013
TEMPERATURES ARE ON TRACK THIS EVENING...DROPPING INTO THE TEENS
AND APPROACHING 20 BELOW IN MANY PLACES OVER CENTRAL MN. WIND
CHILLS HAVE FALLEN INTO THE 20S TO LOW 30S BELOW IN THESE
AREAS...AND THINK AS TEMPS CONTINUE TO FALL INTO THE -20S WIND
CHILLS WILL EASILY REACH WIND CHILL WARNING CRITERIA. FURTHER
SOUTH AND EAST...WIND CHILL ADVISORY CRITERIA IS BEING REACHED BUT
THINK LOWS WILL REMAIN A BIT MILDER TO KEEP WIND CHILLS FROM
REACHING -35 ON A WIDESPREAD BASIS. THUS...THE CURRENT HEADLINE
CONFIGURATION LOOKS GOOD.
DID DECREASE TEMPS IN SOME LOCATIONS...OTHERWISE THE PREVIOUS
FORECAST IS ON TRACK.
&&
.SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY)
ISSUED AT 345 PM CST FRI DEC 6 2013
1052 MB ARCTIC HIGH CENTERED OVER SRN ALBERTA THIS AFTERNOON WILL
SLOWLY FILL INTO A 1040 MB HIGH BY THE TIME IT REACHES SRN WISCONSIN
SATURDAY EVENING. THIS MEANS TWO THINGS FOR THE SHORT TERM...
CONTINUED BITTER COLD AND LITTLE IN THE WAY OF CLOUD COVER. FOR
FORECAST LOWS TONIGHT AND HIGHS TOMORROW...FAVORED THE FORECAST
TOWARD THE MUCH COOLER MET AND ECMWF MOS GUIDANCE BASED ON HOW
TEMPERATURES HAVE PERFORMED...OR UNDER PERFORMED REALLY THIS
AFTERNOON /SEE A HIGH OF -7 AT AXN TODAY/. THIS RESULTED IN TAKING
ABOUT 2-5 DEGREES OFF THE FORECAST TEMPS TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. NOW
HAVE LOWS OF 20 TO 25 BELOW ACROSS CENTRAL MN AND WHEN ADDING IN WNW
WINDS OF 5-10 MPH...WE ARE NOW GETTING FORECAST APPARENT
TEMPERATURES OF 35 TO 45 BELOW ZERO ACROSS WEST CENTRAL AND MOST OF
CENTRAL MN. AS A RESULT...HAVE UPGRADED THE ADVISORY ACROSS THE NW
QUARTER OR SO OF THE CWA TO A WIND CHILL WARNING. OTHER CHANGE TO
THE WIND CHILL HEADLINES WAS TO EXTEND ALL HEADLINES OUT TO NOON ON
SATURDAY...AS THE COOLING OF THE TEMPS TOMORROW RESULTED IN APPARENT
TEMPS OF -25 LINGERING A BIT LONGER THAN PREVIOUSLY FORECAST. AS FOR
TOMORROW...925 MB TEMPS WILL BE A BIT COLDER THAN WHAT WE HAVE SEEN
TODAY...SO IT SHOULD BE A FEW DEGREES COOLER THAT WHAT WE SAW TODAY.
WILL BE A TOUGH GO FOR THE MN PORTION OF THE CWA WITH SNOW COVER TO
SEE HIGHS GET ABOVE ZERO.
.LONG TERM...(SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY)
ISSUED AT 345 PM CST FRI DEC 6 2013
SHORTWAVE ENERGY CURRENTLY OFF THE COAST OF WA/OR ON THE WESTERN
EDGE OF THE LONG WAVE TROUGH SPANNING THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL
CONUS WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR A SNOW EVENT SUNDAY INTO EARLY MONDAY
MORNING /THE ONLY SIGNIFICANT PRECIP EVENT OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS/.
THE NAM/SREF SOLUTION REMAINS THE FARTHEST NORTH AND STRONGER WITH
THE SURFACE LOW EXPECTED TO TRACK A STATE OR TWO TO OUR SOUTH
SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. THE 06.12Z GFS/EC DID COME IN A LITTLE
HIGHER WITH THE QPF ACROSS IA...BUT THEY STILL HAVE LESS THAN 0.20
ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. THE BIG CONCERN IS THE DEEP DENDRITE
GROWTH ZONE AND EXPECTED HIGH SNOW RATIOS. THE OMEGA AND FORCING
ISNT OVERLY IMPRESSIVE...BUT WE WILL QUICKLY SATURATE THE COLUMN
WITH RESPECT TO ICE AND WE HAVE ABOUT 8000-10000 FT OF GOOD
DENDRITE GROWING TEMPS. WE THINK SNOW RATIOS SHOULD BE NEAR 25:1.
WE INCREASED SNOW TOTALS BY 1-2 INCHES AND BUMPED THE POPS TO 100%
ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA FOR SUNDAY EVENING.
THE KEY TO THE NORTHERN NAM FORECAST SEEMS TIED TO THE DEVELOPMENT
OF PRECIP FARTHER NORTH WITH AN EARLY WEAKER BAND OF FGEN...WHICH
IN TURN DEVELOPS MORE LATENT HEATING AND PULLS THE SYSTEM FARTHER
NORTH AND STRENGTHENS IT. THIS CERTAINLY APPEARS LIKE AT LEAST AN
ADVISORY-TYPE EVENT WITH 3-5 POSSIBLE IN THE SOUTHEAST FORECAST
AREA. A STRONG UNIDIRECTIONAL WIND PROFILE ON MONDAY SUGGEST WE
WILL HAVE PLENTY OF SURFACE GUSTS UP NEAR 30 KTS AND THE
POTENTIAL FOR GOOD BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF ALL THAT HIGH RATIO
SNOW THAT FALLS THE PREVIOUS DAY. SNOW WILL END LATE SUNDAY NIGHT
WITH COLD AIR PERSISTING INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. MODELS DO HINT AT
SOME MODERATION AFTER MIDWEEK NEXT WEEK AS UPPER FLOW FLATTENS
SOMEWHAT ALLOWING NEAR SURFACE FLOW FROM THE WEST AS OPPOSED TO
THE ARCTIC. PRECIPITATION CHANCES INTO NEXT WEEK APPEAR RATHER
MINIMAL WITH SYSTEMS PASSING TO JUST TO THE NORTH OR REMAINING
WEST AND SOUTH OF THE AREA BY LATE IN THE FORECAST CYCLE...LIGHT
SNOW WITH THE CLIPPER SYSTEM MON-TUE IS POSSIBLE HOWEVER. IN TERMS
OF TEMPERATURES...THE WEEKEND CONTINUES TO BE VERY COLD WILL
ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE HANGING TOUGH AND WIND CHILL HEADLINES WILL
BE NEEDED THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK...ESPECIALLY WITH ANOTHER ARCTIC
BOUNDARY EXPECTED WITH MORE OF A WEAK CLIPPER SYSTEM ON TUESDAY.
&&
.AVIATION...(FOR THE 06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY NIGHT)
ISSUED AT 1121 PM CST FRI DEC 6 2013
ALMOST VFR CONDS THRU THE NEXT 24 HRS WITH WINDS GENERALLY FROM
THE WNW ARND 10 KTS...BECOMING MORE SW/S SATURDAY EVENING. CLDS
WILL BEGIN TO THICKEN AND LOWER AFT 00Z/8 WITH SOME -SN POSSIBLE
IN KRWF BY 3-6Z.
KMSP...
VFR CONDS THRU 6Z/8 WITH WINDS WNW ARND 10 KTS...BECOMING SW/S BY
00Z...THEN SE/ESE AFT 6Z/8. CLDS WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE AND LOWER
AFT 6Z...WITH SOME -SN POSSIBLE BY THE END OF THE TAF PERIOD.
/OUTLOOK FOR KMSP/
SUN...BECOMING MVFR/IFR WITH SN BY AFTN. WINDS ESE AT 5-10KTS.
MON...MVFR/-SN ENDING EARLY...THEN VFR. WINDS W AT 15G25KTS.
TUE...VFR. WINDS WNW 15G25KTS.
&&
.MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MN...WIND CHILL ADVISORY UNTIL NOON CST SATURDAY FOR MNZ045-052-053-
060>070-073>078-082>085-091>093.
WIND CHILL WARNING UNTIL NOON CST SATURDAY FOR MNZ041>044-
047>051-054>059.
WI...WIND CHILL ADVISORY UNTIL NOON CST SATURDAY FOR WIZ014>016-
023>028.
&&
UPDATE...BORGHOFF
SHORT TERM...MPG
LONG TERM...CLF
AVIATION...JLTHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 538 PM CST FRI DEC 6 2013 MNZ041>045-047>070-073>078-082>085-091>093-WIZ014>016-023>028- 072345- DOUGLAS-TODD-MORRISON-MILLE LACS-KANABEC-STEVENS-POPE-STEARNS- BENTON-SHERBURNE-ISANTI-CHISAGO-LAC QUI PARLE-SWIFT-CHIPPEWA- KANDIYOHI-MEEKER-WRIGHT-HENNEPIN-ANOKA-RAMSEY-WASHINGTON- YELLOW MEDICINE-RENVILLE-MCLEOD-SIBLEY-CARVER-SCOTT-DAKOTA- REDWOOD-BROWN-NICOLLET-LE SUEUR-RICE-GOODHUE-WATONWAN-BLUE EARTH- WASECA-STEELE-MARTIN-FARIBAULT-FREEBORN-POLK-BARRON-RUSK- ST. CROIX-PIERCE-DUNN-PEPIN-EAU CLAIRE- 538 PM CST FRI DEC 6 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA... AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT BITTERLY COLD WIND CHILLS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT WITH VALUES OF 25 TO 45 BELOW...COLDEST OVER WESTERN MINNESOTA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY BITTERLY COLD WIND CHILLS WILL PERSIST THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. ACCUMULATING SNOW WILL RETURN SUNDAY WITH SEVERAL INCHES POSSIBLE ACROSS SOUTHERN AND EASTERN MINNESOTA AND WESTERN WISCONSIN. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. BORGHOFF
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Local observations in Douglas County had wind chill values averaging -35 degrees during the early morning hours of Saturday, December 7th.
Local observations in Morrison County had wind chill values averaging -35 degrees during the early morning hours of Saturday, December 7th.
Local observations in Stevens County had wind chill values averaging -35 degrees during the early morning hours of Saturday, December 7th.
Local observations in Todd County had wind chill values averaging -35 degrees during the early morning hours of Saturday, December 7th.
Local observations in Mille Lacs County had wind chill values averaging -35 degrees during the early morning hours of Saturday, December 7th.
Local observations in Benton County had wind chill values averaging -35 degrees during the early morning hours of Saturday, December 7th.
Local observations in Pope County had wind chill values averaging -35 degrees during the early morning hours of Saturday, December 7th.
Local observations in Stearns County had wind chill values averaging -35 degrees during the early morning hours of Saturday, December 7th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, December 2013
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: 479450, 479452, 479455, 479456, 479451, 479449, 479453, 479454.