During the evening of Thursday, January 30th, a band of snow developed across northeast South Dakota. There was a broad circulation over central Minnesota due to a slowly moving storm system centered near Alexandria.
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 MPX wrote it up.
During the evening of Thursday, January 30th, a band of snow developed across northeast South Dakota. There was a broad circulation over central Minnesota due to a slowly moving storm system centered near Alexandria. This circulation moved little, or drifted eastward during the night. On the southwest side of this circulation, a band of snow developed, and persisted eastward across portions of west central Minnesota. Radar indicated the persistent band moved across Yellow Medicine, and northern Lincoln, Lyon counties for several hours. By 3 am, this band moved out of the area, but persisted east, and northeast as the center of circulation moved southward toward St. Cloud. There was a very narrow band of 4 to 8 inches of snow that fell near Canby, eastward to north of Granite Falls. 4 inch snowfall amounts also occurred in portions of Renville County to the east, and another area of 2 to 4 inches from Litchfield, northeast to St. Cloud. There was one isolated 9 inch total northeast of Minneota, near the border of Yellow Medicine and Lyon Counties.
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 Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 30, 6:24 PM CST, 2 hours 36 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 624 PM CST Thu Jan 30 2020 .Updated for 00Z Aviation Discussion... Issued at 612 PM CST Thu Jan 30 2020 && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Friday night) Issued at 320 PM CST Thu Jan 30 2020 The main story for the day so far has been areas of fog that have lingered despite winds increasing to almost 10kts in some areas. The problem lies in that we are not mixing at all due to the stratus deck, and fog is just advecting from one area to another. This is unlikely to change moving forward, however the main weather impact transitions to a line of snow & freezing drizzle arriving this evening and continuing eastwards through about midday Friday. Latest surface analysis has a system of low pressure over the Dakotas with a positively tilted H5 trough displaced a bit to the east of the surface feature. This trough remains positively tilted with a PV anomaly of about 2-3 PVU rotating through central to southern Minnesota as the surface low dives south towards Missouri. This will keep the 'heaviest' of the precipitation closer to the MN/IA border with this event, with overall accumulations looking to remain fairly light as there is a lack of deeper moisture once you reach the mid to upper levels of the atmosphere. The onset of precipitation this evening is expected to contain a mix of snow/freezing drizzle as a warm nose at 850mb is evident in model soundings, with a transition to mostly snow by the early morning hours of Friday. A bit of freezing drizzle is then expected to mix back with light snow by the mid to late morning on Friday as temperatures warm into Friday afternoon. Overall accumulations likely remain fairly light, with less than an inch of snow and at most a few hundredths of an inch of ice accumulation, with the best chance for icing in western Minnesota at the start of the event this evening. As this system pushes out of the area Friday afternoon, our temperatures look to remain in the upper 20s to low 30s with clouds still locked in place. The only areas that could see a degree of clearing would be southwestern Minnesota where a bit of colder air moves in, however this will be short lived and unlikely to put a major dent in the stratus. .LONG TERM...(Saturday through Thursday) Issued at 320 PM CST Thu Jan 30 2020 Fairly benign weather is expected through next week, with well- above normal temperatures this weekend giving way to a colder pattern and a return to more seasonable temperatures early next week. Upper level ridging builds into the central US through the weekend, with 850 mb temperatures forecast to approach record values for late January by Sunday. These near-record temperatures aloft do not necessarily translate to near-record temperatures at the surface, with snow cover and cloud cover trapped under the inversion created by such warm temperatures aloft both potentially limiting how much we will be able to warm at the surface. Sunday continues to look like the warmest day with 850 mb temperatures warming to 10-15 C across the southern half of MN/WI, and models showing a strong signal for at least some areas to reach 40 degrees. Decided to keep highs on Sunday close to the NBM and the 75th percentile, along with partly to mostly cloudy skies, which would result in widespread highs in the upper 30s and low 40s across the area. However, the amount of cloud cover will play a primary role in just how warm temperatures will get, so if skies remain overcast temperatures will likely remain several degrees cooler and mainly in the 30s. Not expecting to break any record highs Sunday (generally around 50 for feb 2), even with full sunshine, but we could see some record warm minimums Sunday morning as temperatures look to generally remain above freezing overnight. Ridging exits to the east Monday into Tuesday, with a cold front passing through the area and bringing temperatures back down to seasonable values with highs in the low to mid 20s and lows in the single digits. A shortwave passes south of the region Tuesday- Wednesday and could brings light snow as far north as southern Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin, but expect the bulk of the precipitation to remain well to the south of the region. The flow aloft then looks to stagnate again by Thursday, with a return to cloudy skies and warmer temperatures looking likely into the weekend. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Friday evening) Issued at 612 PM CST Thu Jan 30 2020 IFR/LIFR conditions with low stratus and fog. Should see snow showers move from west to east this evening and overnight. There is a chance for some freezing drizzle before the snow arrives, but overall this looks more like a light mist scenario, so did not include freezing precip mention in the TAFS. Winds will be southeast overnight and Friday morning, before eventually becoming southwest Friday evening. KMSP... MVFR becoming IFR/LIFR later this evening and overnight with low stratus and fog. Should see snow showers move from west to east this evening and overnight. There is a chance for some freezing drizzle before the snow arrives, but overall this looks more like a light mist scenario, so did not include mention in the TAFS. Winds will be southeast overnight and Friday morning, before eventually becoming southwest Friday evening, and this should lift ceilings back above 1000 ft. /OUTLOOK FOR KMSP/ SAT...MVFR/VFR CIGS possible. Wind SW 10-15 kts. SUN...VFR/MVFR. Wind W at 10 kts. MON...VFR. Wind N at 10G15 kts. && .MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...None. MN...None. && SHORT TERM...TDH LONG TERM...ETA AVIATION...JRB
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 631 PM CST Thu Jan 30 2020 MNZ041>045-047>070-073>078-082>085-091>093-WIZ014>016-023>028- 010045- Douglas-Todd-Morrison-Mille Lacs-Kanabec-Stevens-Pope-Stearns- Benton-Sherburne-Isanti-Chisago-Lac Qui Parle-Swift-Chippewa- Kandiyohi-Meeker-Wright-Hennepin-Anoka-Ramsey-Washington- Yellow Medicine-Renville-McLeod-Sibley-Carver-Scott-Dakota- Redwood-Brown-Nicollet-Le Sueur-Rice-Goodhue-Watonwan-Blue Earth- Waseca-Steele-Martin-Faribault-Freeborn-Polk-Barron-Rusk- St. Croix-Pierce-Dunn-Pepin-Eau Claire- 631 PM CST Thu Jan 30 2020 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central and southern Minnesota...and west central Wisconsin. .DAY ONE...Tonight A weak weather system will bring a chance of freezing drizzle followed by light snow to much of the coverage area through tonight. Little snow and ice accumulation is expected. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday There is a chance of freezing drizzle and light snow to much of the coverage area Friday. Little to no snow and ice accumulation is expected. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN spotter activation will not be needed. jrb
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 819 PM CST Thu Jan 30 2020 MNZ041-042-047>049-054>059-064>067-073>075-310615- Douglas-Todd-Stevens-Pope-Stearns-Lac Qui Parle-Swift-Chippewa- Kandiyohi-Meeker-Wright-Yellow Medicine-Renville-McLeod-Sibley- Redwood-Brown-Nicollet- Including the cities of Alexandria, Long Prairie, Morris, Glenwood, St Cloud, Madison, Benson, Montevideo, Willmar, Litchfield, Monticello, Granite Falls, Olivia, Hutchinson, Gaylord, Redwood Falls, New Ulm, and St Peter 819 PM CST Thu Jan 30 2020 ...Wintry Mix Causing Slick Spots in Western and Central Minnesota... .A mix of snow with light freezing drizzle is causing a few slick spots on roads this evening across western and central Minnesota. Please use caution and drive slowly. jrb
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Several trained spotters and snowfall observers, measured 4 to 8 inches of snow in a narrow band from Canby, east to Hanley Falls. An isolated measurement of 9 inches occurred near the border of Lyon and Yellow Medicine Counties, northeast of Minneota.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, January 2020
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: 867245.