Minnesota, 2020

Winter Weather in Minnesota, February 12 to 13, 2020

February 12 to 13, 2020 · NWS ARX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Two people were killed and two more were injured in a single vehicle accident on Interstate 90 near Dexter (Mower County) on February 13th. The driver of the vehicle lost control when encountering an icy stretch of road, went through the median before stopping in the opposing lanes of traffic.

Where it happened

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The toll

Deaths
2
Injuries
2
Property damage
$13,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

Two people were killed and two more were injured in a single vehicle accident on Interstate 90 near Dexter (Mower County) on February 13th. The driver of the vehicle lost control when encountering an icy stretch of road, went through the median before stopping in the opposing lanes of traffic. The two people killed where thrown from the vehicle. A period of light snow during the evening of February 12th followed by northwest winds of 15 to 25 mph created some blowing and drifting snow that led to the icy road conditions.

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 Feb 12, 5:27 PM CST, 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 12, 5:27 PM CST, 33 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 12, 4:13 PM CST, 1 hour 47 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

1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Mower

When
February 12, 6:00 PM CST to February 13, 9:30 AM CST
Where
Mower forecast zone
Deaths
0 direct, 2 indirect
Injuries
0 direct, 2 indirect
Property damage
$13,000
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
43.672, -92.752 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Two people were killed and two more were injured in a single vehicle accident on Interstate 90 near Dexter. Light snow fell during the evening of February 12th followed by northwest winds of 15 to 25 mph into the morning of the 13th. This created some blowing and drifting snow and caused icy conditions to develop on some roads. The driver of the vehicle lost control on an icy spot, went through the median before coming to a stop in the opposite lanes of traffic. The two people killed were thrown from the vehicle.

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.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Winter Weather, Mower2020-02-1345MaleVehicle/Towed TrailerIndirect
Winter Weather, Mower2020-02-1318MaleVehicle/Towed TrailerIndirect

What these are

Winter Weather
Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Minnesota in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, February 2020

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: 875856.