Extreme Cold in Minnesota, December 21 to 24, 2022

Name: Extreme Cold in Minnesota, December 21 to 24, 2022
Start: 2022-12-21T20:00
End: 2022-12-24T12:00
Location: Minnesota

December 21 to 24, 2022 · NWS ABR · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

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.

A series of Arctic air masses crossed the region over a period of 7 days beginning on Sunday, December 19th. Temperatures failed to even reach 5 degrees above zero during this period through December 26th, with lows consistently dropping into the teens and 20s below zero. An unusually potent blast of cold air for December followed in behind a reinforcing Arctic front Tuesday night, December 20th, into Wednesday, December 21st, along with a trace to as much as 2 to 4 of new snowfall on top of the pre-existing snow pack. Wind gusts of 30 to 50 mph behind this front impacted the region from the 21st through the 23rd, resulting in an extended period of life-threatening wind chills in the -35 to -50 degree F range and near blizzard conditions. The coldest measured wind chills include -48 F at Graceville, -47 F at Wheaton, -45 F at Ortonville (all on the 22nd).

The extreme cold made the threat to stranded motorists even more dangerous, as numerous roads were deemed No Travel Advised or closed by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Numerous vehicle accidents occurred, and numerous schools closed throughout the event.

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 Dec 21, 5:29 PM CST, 2 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 21, 5:29 PM CST, 2 hours 31 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 21, 3:50 AM CST, 16 hours 10 minutes before

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Aberdeen SD
350 AM CST Wed Dec 21 2022

MNZ039-046-SDZ003>011-015>023-033>037-045-048-051-221000-
Traverse-Big Stone-Corson-Campbell-McPherson-Brown-Marshall-Roberts-
Walworth-Edmunds-Day-Dewey-Potter-Faulk-Spink-Clark-Codington-Grant-
Hamlin-Deuel-Stanley-Sully-Hughes-Hyde-Hand-Jones-Lyman-Buffalo-
350 AM CST Wed Dec 21 2022 /250 AM MST Wed Dec 21 2022/

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for west central Minnesota,
central South Dakota, north central South Dakota and northeast
South Dakota.

.DAY ONE...Today and tonight.

Wind chills of 25 to 35 degrees below zero will be deteriorate to 35
to 50 degrees below zero tonight. An area of low pressure will bring
generally 1 to 4 inches of snow across the area today, heaviest
across west central Minnesota. Increasing winds this afternoon will
lead to blowing snow with greatly reduced visibilities possible
across central South Dakota through tonight.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday.

Strong winds will continue across the area Thursday into Friday,
with blowing snow and potential blizzard conditions along with wind
chills of 35 to 50 degrees below zero or colder. Pre-Holiday travel
through Friday will be impacted. Stranded motorists will face the
threat of frostbite, hypothermia and even life threatening exposure.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Weather spotters are encouraged to submit reports of snowfall amounts
and blowing snow to the National Weather Service in Aberdeen. The
public can submit reports on our web page, Facebook page, or our
Twitter feed.

LUECK

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: December 21, 8:00 PM CST to December 24, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Big Stone forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 45.426, -96.411 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Traverse

When: December 21, 8:00 PM CST to December 24, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Traverse forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
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

Every storm in Minnesota in 2022 Every state in 2022 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, December 2022

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: 1073853, 1073854.