Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Traverse
- When
- February 17, 7:33 AM CST to February 19, 12:00 PM CST
- Where
- Traverse forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
- Coordinates
- 45.772, -96.472 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Extreme Cold in Minnesota, February 17 to 19, 2025
An intense Arctic airmass moved through the region between February 17 and February 19, bringing dangerously cold wind chills. On the morning of the 17th, wind chills were recorded as low as 45 degrees below zero at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT) weather stations located 4 miles southeast of Ortonville and 3 miles south-southwest of Graceville.
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
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.
An intense Arctic airmass moved through the region between February 17 and February 19, bringing dangerously cold wind chills. On the morning of the 17th, wind chills were recorded as low as 45 degrees below zero at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT) weather stations located 4 miles southeast of Ortonville and 3 miles south-southwest of Graceville. The Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) at Wheaton also recorded a wind chill of 40 degrees below zero, with a low temperature of 20 degrees below zero that morning. Additionally, the high temperatures observed at the Wheaton AWOS were only 9 degrees below zero on the 17th and 6 degrees below zero on the 18th. The temperature at the MNDOT station in Graceville did not rise above zero until February 19, when it reached a high of 1 degree.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Big Stone
- When
- February 17, 8:20 AM CST to February 19, 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)
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
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in American Samoa, February 17 to 22, 2025
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Minnesota, February 17 to 19, 2025
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Kansas, February 17 to 19, 2025
- Extreme Cold in South Dakota, February 17 to 20, 2025
- Winter Weather in Nebraska, February 17 to 18, 2025
- Extreme Cold in South Dakota, February 17 to 20, 2025
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, February 17 to 20, 2025
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, February 17 to 18, 2025
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Wisconsin, February 17 to 18, 2025
- Cold in Illinois, February 17 to 18, 2025
- Extreme Cold in Minnesota, February 17, 2025
- Extreme Cold in Iowa, February 17 to 18, 2025
More
Every storm in Minnesota in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, February 2025
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: 1231064, 1231063.