Extreme Cold in Minnesota, January 29 to 31, 2019

Name: Extreme Cold in Minnesota, January 29 to 31, 2019
Start: 2019-01-29T13:55
End: 2019-01-31T11:55
Location: Minnesota

January 29 to 31, 2019 · NWS ARX · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

One person died from hypothermia in Rochester (Olmsted County) on January 30th after being stranded outside a house overnight. Automated weather observing equipment at the Rochester airport recorded a low temperature of 29 below zero with wind chills as low as 60 below zero.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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
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Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $55,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 ARX wrote it up.

With arctic air in place over southeast Minnesota, air temperatures dropped into the 20s below zero from January 29th into January 31st. A few sites recorded temperatures in the 30s below zero during the mornings of the 30th and 31st. When combined with wind speeds of 5 to 25 mph, wind chills of 35 to 60 below were common. The coldest wind chill to occur was 63 below zero near Dexter (Mower County) and near Ridgeway (Winona County) during the early morning of January 30th. Most southeast Minnesota schools were closed January 29th through the 31st. The U.S. Post Office suspended delivery operations across all of southeast Minnesota on January 30th and 31st. In Austin (Mower County) utility crews responded to over 140 calls for homes without heat and repaired 3 broken water mains. In Rochester, plans were put in place to use the city buses as a mobile warming shelter but many of the buses could not operate when the diesel fuel gelled after about 3 hours of service in the cold weather. A pipe burst in a furniture store flooding around 3 thousand square feet and destroying numerous pieces of furniture.

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 La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 28, 5:33 PM CST, 20 hours 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 28, 5:33 PM CST, 20 hours 22 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 28, 3:41 PM CST, 22 hours 14 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

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

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Olmsted

When: January 29, 1:55 PM CST to January 31, 11:55 AM CST
Where: Olmsted forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $40,000
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 44.004, -92.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

In Rochester, one person died from hypothermia after being stranded outside a house during the morning of January 30th. The automated weather observing equipment at the Rochester airport recorded a low temperature of 29 below zero with wind chills as low as 60 below zero.

Wind chills of 35 to 60 below zero were common across Olmsted County from the afternoon of January 29th into the morning of the 31st. The coldest wind chill to occur was 62 below zero at a mesonet station near Stewartville. In Rochester, plans were put in place to use the city buses as a mobile warming shelter but many of the buses could not operate when the diesel fuel gelled after about 3 hours of service in the cold weather. A pipe burst in a furniture store flooding around 3 thousand square feet and destroying numerous pieces of furniture.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Dodge

When: January 29, 2:15 PM CST to January 31, 10:55 AM CST
Where: Dodge forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 44.023, -92.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of 35 to 60 below zero were common across Dodge County from the afternoon of January 29th into the morning of the 31st. The coldest wind chill to occur was 60 below zero at a mesonet station near Kasson.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Fillmore

When: January 29, 2:55 PM CST to January 31, 9:35 AM CST
Where: Fillmore forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 43.674, -92.090 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of 35 to 60 below zero were common across Fillmore County from the afternoon of January 29th into the morning of the 31st. The coldest wind chill to occur was 59 below zero at the automated weather observing equipment for the Preston airport.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Wabasha

When: January 29, 3:05 PM CST to January 31, 10:45 AM CST
Where: Wabasha forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 44.284, -92.230 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of 35 to 55 below zero were common across Wabasha County from the afternoon of January 29th into the morning of the 31st. The coldest wind chill to occur was 56 below zero at a mesonet station near Zumbro Falls.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Houston

When: January 29, 3:25 PM CST to January 31, 10:45 AM CST
Where: Houston forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 43.671, -91.493 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of 35 to 55 below zero were common across Houston County from the afternoon of January 29th into the morning of the 31st.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Mower

When: January 29, 3:55 PM CST to January 31, 8:35 AM CST
Where: Mower forecast zone
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 43.672, -92.752 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of 35 to 60 below zero were common across Mower County from the afternoon of January 29th into the morning of the 31st. The coldest wind chill to occur was 63 below zero at a mesonet station near Dexter. In Austin, utility crews responded to over 140 calls for homes without heat, replaced 32 frozen gas meters and repaired 3 broken water mains.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Winona

When: January 29, 3:55 PM CST to January 31, 11:55 AM CST
Where: Winona forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 43.987, -91.779 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills of 35 to 60 below zero were common across Winona County from the afternoon of January 29th into the morning of the 31st. The coldest wind chill to occur was 63 below zero at a mesonet station near Ridgeway.

The people who died

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
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Olmsted	2019-01-30	22	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

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

Every storm in Minnesota in 2019 Every state in 2019 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, January 2019

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: 800956, 800948, 800950, 800959, 800952, 800954, 800961.