Minnesota, 2025

Extreme Cold in Minnesota, February 17 to 18, 2025

February 17 to 18, 2025 · NWS ARX · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

An arctic airmass moved into the Upper Mississippi River Valley on February 17th, bringing dangerously cold wind chills along with it. The coldest period was during the morning hours on February 18th when wind chills fell as low as 30 to 45 degrees below zero in some locations.

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
  • 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
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.

An arctic airmass moved into the Upper Mississippi River Valley on February 17th, bringing dangerously cold wind chills along with it. The coldest period was during the morning hours on February 18th when wind chills fell as low as 30 to 45 degrees below zero in some locations.

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 17, 5:36 PM CST, 3 hours 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 17, 5:36 PM CST, 3 hours 24 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, Dodge

When
February 17, 9:00 PM CST to February 18, 10:00 AM CST
Where
Dodge forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
44.023, -92.862 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Minimum wind chills on the morning of February 18th fell to between 35 to 45 degrees below zero. The coldest observed wind chill in the county was 41 degrees below zero just east of Kasson.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Fillmore

When
February 17, 9:00 PM CST to February 18, 10:00 AM CST
Where
Fillmore forecast zone
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
43.674, -92.090 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Minimum wind chills on the morning of February 18th fell to between 30 to 40 degrees below zero. The coldest observed wind chill in the county was 40 degrees below zero at Canton.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Houston

When
February 17, 9:00 PM CST to February 18, 10:00 AM CST
Where
Houston forecast zone
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
43.671, -91.493 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Minimum wind chills on the morning of February 18th fell to between 25 to 35 degrees below zero.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Mower

When
February 17, 9:00 PM CST to February 18, 10:00 AM CST
Where
Mower forecast zone
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
43.672, -92.752 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Minimum wind chills on the morning of February 18th fell to between 25 to 35 degrees below zero. The coldest observed wind chill in the county was 43 degrees below zero at Dexter.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Olmsted

When
February 17, 9:00 PM CST to February 18, 10:00 AM CST
Where
Olmsted forecast zone
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
44.004, -92.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Minimum wind chills on the morning of February 18th fell to between 30 to 40 degrees below zero. The coldest observed wind chill in the county was 40 degrees below zero at Eyota.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Wabasha

When
February 17, 9:00 PM CST to February 18, 10:00 AM CST
Where
Wabasha forecast zone
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
44.284, -92.230 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Minimum wind chills on the morning of February 18th fell to between 25 to 40 degrees below zero. The coldest observed wind chill in the county was 36 degrees below zero at Lake City.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Winona

When
February 17, 9:00 PM CST to February 18, 10:00 AM CST
Where
Winona forecast zone
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
43.987, -91.779 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Minimum wind chills on the morning of February 18th fell to between 25 to 40 degrees below zero. The coldest observed wind chill in the county was 40 degrees below zero at Ridgeway.

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

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1237786, 1237787, 1237788, 1237789, 1237790, 1237791, 1237792.