On the morning of the 25th, the Cass County Sheriff's Office received a report of an unresponsive male in a fish house on Leech Lake. The 21 year old male was pronounced deceased upon arrival at the hospital.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 DLH wrote it up.
On the morning of the 25th, the Cass County Sheriff's Office received a report of an unresponsive male in a fish house on Leech Lake. The 21 year old male was pronounced deceased upon arrival at the hospital. The medical examiner ruled cause of death as accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. Overnight low temperatures were in the upper teens.
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 Duluth, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 24, 5:58 AM CST, 2 hours 2 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Duluth MN
558 AM CST Sat Feb 24 2018
.SHORT TERM...(Today through Sunday)
Issued at 425 AM CST Sat Feb 24 2018
The main concern during the short term continues to focus on a
fast-moving winter storm which will affect the Northland late this
afternoon through Sunday morning.
Dense fog has developed over portions of northwest Wisconsin this
morning. While numerous stations have reported very low
visibility early this morning, think we'll fluctuate between low
stratus and fog through mid-morning. Low lying areas where winds
have decoupled have the best chance of seeing significantly
reduced visibility. In coordination with MPX and ARX, have opted
for a Dense Fog Advisory through 9 AM.
A potent shortwave trough will eject out of the Colorado Rockies
this morning with lee cyclogenesis forecast. A baroclinic leaf was
in its early stages of development from northeast Colorado to
South Dakota as observed in GOES-16 water vapor imagery with
cirrus spreading into western Minnesota. The trough and associated
surface low will quickly lift from Colorado to Wisconsin by
midnight. Deterministic models feature a diverse range of forecast
trajectories for the system with the GFS and ECMWF farthest
southeast, the NAM faster and farthest north, and the GEM between
the GFS/ECMWF and NAM solutions. Snow moving into the Northland is
a foregone conclusion at this point, the main question is timing
and final totals. With the wide spread in the guidance, confidence
in snow amounts and placement is lower than this time yesterday.
A swath of 7 to 10 inches of snow still seems likely, but has
shifted farther east with this forecast. The main axis of the
heaviest snow stretches from the St. Croix Valley north through
Douglas and Bayfield Counties and up the north shore. Onshore
winds with this system should result in locally enhanced snowfall
amounts along the north shore, where up to 12 inches of snow is
possible. The diverse low trajectories have a knock-on effect on
frontogenetic forcing and potential instability. Still think there
will be one or more FGEN bands of snow associated with this
system, but the orientation in relation to the storm movement is
still uncertain. Periods of 1 inch per hour snowfall seem likely.
Additional adjustments to timing and amounts will likely be needed
this afternoon as the system matures. The strongest omega and
dendritic growth layer will both be well aloft during this storm,
with a warmer layer with less supersaturation below. Given the
thermal and moisture profiles, snow ratios between 13 and 16 to 1
seem favored. With lower confidence in the forecast particulars
than yesterday morning, did not make any adjustments to winter
storm headlines.
Snow will quickly wind down as the system moves through northeast
Ontario on Sunday. Skies will clear from southwest to northeast
during the day as high pressure builds in.
.LONG TERM...(Sunday night through Friday)
Issued at 425 AM CST Sat Feb 24 2018
By Sunday evening the surface low will be north of Lake Superior,
pulling away from the region while high pressure builds into the
region. At this point the upper flow pattern becomes more zonal
and will result in a milder period. It will also be a fairly dry
period with some small chances of precipitation later in the week
as a Canadian short wave trough dips into the northern tier of the
U. S. then merges with the southern stream long wave trough.
Resultant precipitation area will mainly be associated with the
southern system, giving mainly southern areas of the forecast area
the precipitation chances. Warm enough air will be coming into
the region on Thursday to give a chance of rain.
&&
.AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Sunday morning)
Issued at 545 AM CST Sat Feb 24 2018
Dense fog in the KHYR area will improve to VFR later thismorning.
VFR conditions and light winds will quickly become IFR late this
afternoon and early this evening as snow spreads across the area.
The snow will make its firt impact on the KBR site, then spread
into the rest of the TAF site around or just after 00z. The snow
will reduce visibilities below 1 mile and frequently below 1/2
mile.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
DLH 29 21 30 14 / 50 100 20 0
INL 30 18 30 13 / 10 100 60 10
BRD 27 17 29 13 / 80 100 0 0
HYR 34 23 32 13 / 50 100 20 10
ASX 32 25 33 18 / 40 100 30 10
&&
.DLH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WI...Winter Storm Warning from 6 PM this evening to 9 AM CST Sunday
for WIZ001>004-006>009.
Dense Fog Advisory until 9 AM CST this morning for WIZ003-004-
006>009.
MN...Winter Storm Warning from 9 PM this evening to noon CST Sunday
for MNZ011-012-019>021-026.
Winter Weather Advisory from 6 PM this evening to 9 AM CST
Sunday for MNZ025-033-034.
Winter Storm Warning from 6 PM this evening to 9 AM CST Sunday
for MNZ035>038.
Winter Weather Advisory from 9 PM this evening to noon CST
Sunday for MNZ010-018.
LS...None.
&&
SHORT TERM...Huyck
LONG TERM...CLC
AVIATION...CLCHazardous Weather Outlook...CORRECTED National Weather Service Duluth MN 413 AM CST Sat Feb 24 2018 MNZ010>012-018>021-025-026-033>038-WIZ001>004-006>009-251000- Koochiching-North St. Louis-Northern Cook/Northern Lake- North Itasca-Central St. Louis-Southern Lake/North Shore- Southern Cook/North Shore-North Cass-South Itasca-South Cass- Crow Wing-Northern Aitkin-South Aitkin-Carlton/South St. Louis- Pine-Douglas-Bayfield-Ashland-Iron-Burnett-Washburn-Sawyer-Price- 413 AM CST Sat Feb 24 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Dense fog with dangerously low visibilities will be widespread across northwestern Wisconsin this morning. This fog will also cause untreated and elevated road surfaces such as bridges and ramps to be slick. Snow will begin late this afternoon in the Brainerd Lakes area then spread across the rest of the northland this evening and continue through the night. The snow will come down heavily and reducing visibility to dangerous levels and quickly coat roads. Travel tonight will become difficult with snow covered roads and low visibilities. A Winter Storm Warning is in effect during this time period over all of the northwest Wisconsin counties, and much of northeast Minnesota. A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued as well for the western tier of counties over north-central Minnesota. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday Snow will continue to fall through the morning but end from west to east. By Sunday morning widespread 6 to 12 inches of snow will have fallen. Most of the snow will be out of the northland by mid afternoon. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Snow spotters are requested to report their snowfall measurements to the National Weather Service. CLC/klh More information may be obtained at the following web address: http://www.weather.gov/duluth (all lower case)
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
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, Northern Cass | 2018-02-25 | 21 | Male | Camping | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, February 2018
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: 733561.