Minnesota, 2018

Extreme Cold in Minnesota, January 15 to 16, 2018

January 15 to 16, 2018 · NWS ABR · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Arctic air combined with north winds brought extreme wind chills to west central Minnesota. Wind chills ranged from 35 to 40 degrees below zero from the morning of the 15th to the morning of the 16th.

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 ABR wrote it up.

Arctic air combined with north winds brought extreme wind chills to west central Minnesota. Wind chills ranged from 35 to 40 degrees below zero from the morning of the 15th to the morning of the 16th.

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 Aberdeen, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 14, 3:18 PM CST, 16 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 14, 3:18 PM CST, 16 hours 42 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, Big Stone

When
January 15, 8:00 AM CST to January 16, 11:00 AM CST
Where
Big Stone forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
45.426, -96.411 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Traverse

When
January 15, 8:00 AM CST to January 16, 11:00 AM CST
Where
Traverse forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
45.772, -96.472 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, January 2018

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: 737306, 737307.