Cold temperatures across southeast Minnesota contributed to the death of an elderly lady in Rochester (Olmsted County). The woman wandered away from her house on the evening of December 2nd without her coat or purse.
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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 ARX wrote it up.
Cold temperatures across southeast Minnesota contributed to the death of an elderly lady in Rochester (Olmsted County). The woman wandered away from her house on the evening of December 2nd without her coat or purse. She spent the night outside and was found deceased the next morning. Temperatures were in the teens and 20s while the woman was outdoors. The woman was believed to have medical conditions that contributed to her death along with the exposure to the cold temperatures.
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 Dec 2, 2:00 PM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 200 PM CST TUE DEC 2 2014 .SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY) ISSUED AT 200 PM CST TUE DEC 2 2014 AN UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE IS STREAKING EASTWARD ACROSS NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE REGION...PRODUCING MOSTLY MID LEVEL CLOUDS WITH SOME AREAS OF LIGHT SNOW/FLURRIES. HOPWRF/HRRR/NAM12 CONTINUE TO LAY OUT SOME VERY LIGHT QPF ALONG/NORTH OF A ZUMBRO FALLS MN TO BLACK RIVER FALLS WI LINE. DON/T EXPECT MUCH/IF ANY ACCUMULATION. WILL HOLD ONTO THE LIGHT SNOW CHANCES AND FLURRIES FOR THE FIRST PART OF THE EVENING. HIGH PRESSURE SLIDES IN ON WED...QUICKLY SLIDING EAST ON THU. SHOULD BE A SUNNY...BUT COLD DAY. MODELS THEN SUGGEST A WEAK RIPPLE ALONG THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW WOULD STREAK EASTWARD ACROSS THE REGION ON THU. THERE IS SOME WARM AIR ADVECTION AHEAD OF IT...MORESO IN THE 700MB LAYER AND ACROSS NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE REGION. THE HIGH LEAVES A LOT OF DRY AIR ACROSS THE REGION...AND NOT MUCH SATURATION BEING BROUGHT IN WITH THE SHORTWAVE...PER RH FIELDS AND BUFKIT SOUNDINGS. GFS AND NAM POINT TO A MID CLOUD DECK ACROSS THE NORTH THAT COULD SUPPORT SOME FLURRIES. WILL TREND THE FORECAST THIS WAY. .LONG TERM...(FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY) ISSUED AT 200 PM CST TUE DEC 2 2014 PATTERN SHIFT LOOMS ON THE NEAR HORIZON...SHIFTING TO A MORE ZONAL UPPER LEVEL PATTERN. TEMPERATURES WILL MODERATE TO MORE SEASONABLE LEVELS AS A RESULT. SOME SUGGESTION THAT RIDGING WILL BUILD IN TOWARD THE LATER PART OF NEXT WEEK...WITH LONG RANGE MODELS POINTING TO A WARMING TREND FOR THE 2ND/3RD WEEKS OF DECEMBER. SO...SOME HOPE FOR A MILDER STRETCH OF DAYS...UNLIKE THE SPATE OF COLD FROM MUCH OF NOVEMBER. GENERALLY...IT LOOKS LIKE A DRY STRETCH WITH RUN TOTAL OUTPUTS VIA THE ECMWF OF ONLY 0.03 INCHES THROUGH 00Z THU. THAT SAID...THE GFS AND EC DO DRAG A SHORTWAVE TROUGH ACROSS THE REGION SUN-MON TIME FRAME. THE GFS PRODUCES SOME LIGHT QPF SUN NIGHT AS THE WAVE MOVES THROUGH...WITH SECONDARY WAVE TRAILING IN ON MONDAY FOR MORE LIGHT SNOW/FLURRY CHANCES. AMOUNTS WOULD BE MINIMAL. THE EC IS QUICKER WITH THE FIRST SHORTWAVE...AND WEAK...PRODUCING NO QPF. IT DOESN/T HAVE THE SECONDARY WAVE. WILL SIDE WITH CONSENSUS SOLUTION FOR NOW...WHICH PLACES LOW SNOW CHANCES FOR THE REGION ON SUNDAY NIGHT. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 1136 AM CST TUE DEC 2 2014 MAIN FORECAST CONCERNS ARE MVFR DECK OF CLOUDS OVER SOUTHERN IOWA AND NORTHERN MISSOURI TO POSSIBLY AFFECT THE RST AND LSE TAF SITES THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. LATEST METARS SHOW CLOUD HEIGHTS IN THE STRATOCUMULUS DECK OF CLOUDS TO BE IN THE 1500- 2500 FEET RANGE. THE LATEST 02.12Z NAM/RAP SUGGEST THE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE STRATOCUMULUS DECK OF CLOUDS TO LIFT NORTHEASTWARD AND AFFECT POSSIBLY THE LSE TAF SITE. LATEST VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY AND 02.12Z MODEL TRENDS SUGGEST BULK OF THE MOISTURE WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST OF THE LSE TAF SITE. THERE COULD BE A BRIEF PERIOD OF MVFR CEILING AT LSE AFTER 20Z TUESDAY. HOWEVER...CONFIDENCE IS HIGH ENOUGH THE MAJORITY OF THE STRATOCUMULUS DECK WILL PASS JUST TO THE SOUTH AND EAST OF THE LSE TAF SITE. FOR NOW...HAVE INTRODUCE SCATTERED CLOUDS AT BOTH THE LSE AND RST TAF SITES AFTER 20-21Z TUESDAY. FOCUS THEN TURNS TO THE COLD FRONT OVER THE DAKOTAS TO PUSH INTO WISCONSIN THIS EVENING. THIS WILL ERODE/MOVE THE STRATOCUMULUS DECK EAST OF THE TAF SITES BY 02Z WEDNESDAY AND PROVIDE VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH THE REST OF THE TAF PERIOD. WINDS WILL SLOWLY SHIFT TO THE NORTHWEST THIS EVENING INTO TONIGHT AND BECOME SUSTAIN AT 10 TO 12 KNOTS BY 15Z WEDNESDAY. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...NONE. MN...NONE. IA...NONE. && SHORT TERM...RIECK LONG TERM....RIECK AVIATION.....DTJ
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 418 AM CST TUE DEC 2 2014 IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029- 032>034-041>044-053>055-061-031300- MITCHELL-HOWARD-WINNESHIEK-ALLAMAKEE-FLOYD-CHICKASAW-FAYETTE- CLAYTON-WABASHA-DODGE-OLMSTED-WINONA-MOWER-FILLMORE-HOUSTON- TAYLOR-CLARK-BUFFALO-TREMPEALEAU-JACKSON-LA CROSSE-MONROE-JUNEAU- ADAMS-VERNON-CRAWFORD-RICHLAND-GRANT- 418 AM CST TUE DEC 2 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST IOWA...SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA AND SOUTHWEST INTO CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO WEBINAR IS SCHEDULED. AJ
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 306 PM CST TUE DEC 2 2014 MNZ079-086>088-WIZ017-029-032>034-022300- WABASHA-DODGE-OLMSTED-WINONA-TAYLOR-CLARK-BUFFALO-TREMPEALEAU- JACKSON- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ROCHESTER...WINONA...MEDFORD... NEILLSVILLE...BLACK RIVER FALLS 306 PM CST TUE DEC 2 2014 LIGHT SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO FALL ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH 5 PM. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF A DUSTING TO 1/2 INCH CAN BE EXPECTED AND THIS MAY PRODUCE SOME SLICK SPOTS ON ROADWAYS. THIS COULD LEAD TO A SLIPPERY COMMUTE EARLY THIS EVENING. BE SURE TO SLOW DOWN AND ALLOW A LITTLE EXTRA TIME TO REACH YOUR DESTINATION. DAS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
An elderly lady passed away after spending the night of December 2nd outdoors with temperatures in the teens and 20s. The lady had medical conditions that likely contributed to her death along with the exposure to the cold temperatures.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold/Wind Chill, Olmsted | 2014-12-03 | 91 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, December 2014
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: 548026.