Name: Extreme Cold in Minnesota, January 16 to 17, 2016
Start: 2016-01-16T21:00
End: 2016-01-17T10:00
Location: Minnesota

Where it happened

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.

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: 8

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 FSD wrote it up.

Arctic air and northwest winds combined to lower wind chill readings to 35 to 45 degrees below zero in southwest Minnesota from the evening of January 16th to the morning of January 17th. Actual temperatures dropped to 10 to 20 degrees below zero, and northwest winds averaged 10 to 15 mph.

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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 16, 5:57 PM CST, 3 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 16, 5:57 PM CST, 3 hours 3 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 16, 4:36 AM CST, 16 hours 24 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

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

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Lincoln

When: January 16, 9:00 PM CST to January 17, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Lincoln forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 44.413, -96.267 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills dropped to the 35 to 45 below zero range for much of the night and morning hours on January 16-17. Northwest winds gusted to around 20 mph early in the event, but generally averaged 10 to 15 mph when the coldest wind chills were reached, during which time actual temperatures were 15 to 20 degrees below zero.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Lyon

When: January 16, 9:00 PM CST to January 17, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Lyon forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 44.414, -95.839 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills dropped to the 35 to 45 below zero range for much of the night and morning hours on January 16-17. Northwest winds gusted to around 20 mph early in the event, but generally averaged 10 to 15 mph when the coldest wind chills were reached, during which time actual temperatures were 15 to 20 degrees below zero.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Pipestone

When: January 16, 9:00 PM CST to January 17, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Pipestone forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 44.023, -96.259 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills dropped to the 35 to 45 below zero range for much of the night and morning hours on January 16-17. Northwest winds gusted to around 20 mph early in the event, but generally averaged 10 to 15 mph when the coldest wind chills were reached, during which time actual temperatures were 15 to 20 degrees below zero.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Murray

When: January 16, 10:00 PM CST to January 17, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Murray forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 44.022, -95.763 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills dropped to the 35 to 45 below zero range for much of the night and morning hours on January 16-17. Northwest winds gusted to around 20 mph early in the event, but generally averaged 10 to 15 mph when the coldest wind chills were reached, during which time actual temperatures were 15 to 20 degrees below zero.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Rock

When: January 16, 10:00 PM CST to January 17, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Rock forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 43.675, -96.253 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills dropped to the 35 to 45 below zero range for much of the night and morning hours on January 16-17. Northwest winds gusted to around 20 mph early in the event, but generally averaged 10 to 15 mph when the coldest wind chills were reached, during which time actual temperatures were 15 to 20 degrees below zero.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Nobles

When: January 16, 10:00 PM CST to January 17, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Nobles forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 43.674, -95.753 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills dropped to the 35 to 45 below zero range for much of the night and morning hours on January 16-17. Northwest winds gusted to around 20 mph early in the event, but generally averaged 10 to 15 mph when the coldest wind chills were reached, during which time actual temperatures were 15 to 20 degrees below zero.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Jackson

When: January 16, 10:00 PM CST to January 17, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Jackson forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 43.674, -95.154 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills dropped to the 35 to 45 below zero range for much of the night and morning hours on January 16-17. Northwest winds gusted to around 20 mph early in the event, but generally averaged 10 to 15 mph when the coldest wind chills were reached, during which time actual temperatures were 15 to 20 degrees below zero.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Cottonwood

When: January 16, 10:00 PM CST to January 17, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Cottonwood forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 44.007, -95.181 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills dropped to the 35 to 45 below zero range for much of the night and morning hours on January 16-17. Northwest winds gusted to around 20 mph early in the event, but generally averaged 10 to 15 mph when the coldest wind chills were reached, during which time actual temperatures were 15 to 20 degrees below zero.

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

More

Every storm in Minnesota in 2016 Every state in 2016 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, January 2016

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: 614828, 614829, 614830, 614831, 614832, 614833, 614835, 614836.