Northwest winds surged behind a strong arctic cold front which moved across the region early on January 16. Winds persisted into the midday on January 17, with occasional gusts as high as 35 to 50 mph.
Every event with a place to put it; 13 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 FSD wrote it up.
Northwest winds surged behind a strong arctic cold front which moved across the region early on January 16. Winds persisted into the midday on January 17, with occasional gusts as high as 35 to 50 mph. Areas of light snowfall generally on the order of a dusting to an inch fell before and concurrent with the strong winds, and locations mainly near Highway 71 experienced considerable time with visibility near or below one quarter mile with travel not recommended in areas surrounding Windom.
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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 16, 4:45 AM CST, 15 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
445 AM CST Fri Jan 16 2026
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Scattered snow showers early this morning transition to narrow
northwest-to-southeast snow bands through early this evening.
Snowfall amounts will generally remain less than an inch, but
localized areas around 2 inches are possible.
- While snow amounts alone would produce only minor impacts to
travel, strong winds gusting 40 to 60 MPH with any falling
snow will result in rapidly changing visibility, dropping as
low as 1/2 mile at times.
- Below normal temperatures are expected this weekend into early
next week, with wind chills dropping to the teens and 20s
below zero by Saturday morning.
- Additional light snow chances and strong winds return Sunday,
with moderate to high (40-70%) chances of wind gusts over 45
mph mainly west of the James River.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 445 AM CST Fri Jan 16 2026
Temperatures are still in the lower-mid 30s across the forecast
area early this morning, but the secondary cold front is on our
doorstep, approaching our far northwest counties as of 4 AM. We
have already seen one area of snow showers swing through the CWA
with one vorticity lobe earlier this morning, with another batch
of snow showers accompanying the next wave and aforementioned
cold front moving across the Highway 14 corridor. These areas of
snow showers associated with the waves will bring brief drops in
visibility, with reports so far around a mile or slightly lower
upstream.
As this morning progresses, the secondary push of cold advection
will make low level thermal profiles neutral-slightly unstable,
with horizontal convective rolls (HCR) paralleling the northwest
to southeast wind flow becoming more likely from mid-morning
through the afternoon. Latest high-res models continue to focus
a potential for more persistent narrow bands developing through
central to south-central South Dakota and into north-central
Nebraska this morning, with a relative minima of activity from
the James River to I-29 and into northwest Iowa. A secondary
favored area remains focused across portions of Minnesota, and
these 2 favored areas look to have the greatest potential for
snowfall amounts topping an inch, perhaps locally topping 2
inches toward south-central South Dakota. These localized higher
amounts could result in more persistent low visibility issues,
especially in south-central South Dakota where the stronger
winds also remain favored. If this occurs, cannot rule out a
small area of blizzard conditions developing, and later shifts
will have to monitor closely should a localized upgrade to the
Winter Weather Advisory become necessary.
These HCR may linger into this evening, though with loss of
"heating" and slightly weaker winds expected, evening activity
should be weaker/less intense. That said, could still see very
light accumulations after 00Z.
As temperatures falling near to slightly below zero tonight,
breezy winds will push wind chills into the teens to 20s below
zero. Some areas could approach Cold Weather Advisory criteria,
though current forecast shows wind chills only briefly reaching
criteria around daybreak Saturday. With ongoing headlines, opted
to hold off on cold weather headlines for now. Saturday will be
a cold day, though, with highs only in the single digits to
around 10 above and daytime wind chills remaining below zero.
Areas that receive 0.5 inch or more accumulation, and more so
locations with more than an inch, could see periodic blowing
snow continue through the weekend, as northwest winds remain on
the breezy side into Saturday afternoon.
By Sunday, timing of another clipper looks to bring warming
temperatures early in the day, followed by falling afternoon
temperatures, along with another round of gusty winds and spotty
light snow chances. Even without much additional accumulation,
may continue to see blowing and drifting snow in areas which
receive those localized higher amounts today.
The balance of next week currently looks relatively quiet, and
aside from cooler temperatures again Monday, daily highs look
near to only slightly below late January normals.
&&
.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/...
Issued at 1016 PM CST Thu Jan 15 2026
An initial round of light rain and snow has moved through the
Tri-State area late this evening. A bit of a lull will form for
a few hours before light snow and embedded snow showers begins
to move southeast through daybreak. Occasional MVFR ceilings are
likely with this activity, but visibility may be highly
variable.
Friday will be filled with gusty northwest winds over 35 to 45
knots at times, along with linear bands of snow showers that may
develop. Most consistent coverage may be along and west of the
James River valley, with more uncertainty further east. However,
visibility under these bands may be reduced below 1 mile.
&&
.FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SD...Winter Weather Advisory until 6 PM CST this evening for
SDZ038>040-050-052>071.
High Wind Warning until 6 PM CST this evening for SDZ050-052-
057-058-063-064.
MN...Winter Weather Advisory until 6 PM CST this evening for MNZ071-
072-080-081-089-090-097-098.
IA...Winter Weather Advisory until 6 PM CST this evening for
IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032.
NE...Winter Weather Advisory until 6 PM CST this evening for NEZ013-
014.
&&
DISCUSSION...JH
AVIATION...DuxHazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD 450 AM CST Fri Jan 16 2026 IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097- 098-NEZ013-014-SDZ038>040-050-052>071-171100- Lyon-Osceola-Dickinson-Sioux-O'Brien-Clay-Plymouth-Cherokee- Buena Vista-Woodbury-Ida-Lincoln-Murray-Cottonwood-Nobles-Jackson- Pipestone-Rock-Dixon-Dakota-Beadle-Kingsbury-Brookings-Gregory- Jerauld-Sanborn-Miner-Lake-Moody-Brule-Aurora-Davison-Hanson-McCook- Minnehaha-Charles Mix-Douglas-Hutchinson-Turner-Bon Homme-Yankton- Union- 450 AM CST Fri Jan 16 2026 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northwest Iowa, west central Iowa, southwest Minnesota, northeast Nebraska, central South Dakota, east central South Dakota, south central South Dakota and southeast South Dakota. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. Snow showers or narrow snow bands, along with strong northwest winds will impact travel across the region today. Northwest winds gusting as high as 40 to 50 mph will be common, and briefly higher gusts could accompany snow showers. Snowfall amounts will be highly variable, ranging from trace amounts to over an inch over short distances. Localized totals to around 2 inches are possible if snow bands persist in one location for several hours. Regardless of total snowfall accumulations, any falling snow combined with the strong winds will produce significantly reduced visibility. If traveling, expect rapidly changing visibility and road conditions over short distances. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday. Colder air tonight into Saturday will result in wind chills falling into the teens to 20s below zero by Saturday morning. A brief warm-up early Sunday will be followed by another round of gusty northwest winds, falling temperatures and spotty light snow and blowing snow into Sunday afternoon. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 strong wind, 3 winter weather, 2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Sustained winds reached 30 to 36 mph at times with a peak gust of 53 mph at a Minnesota Road Weather Information System site 3 miles south of Hendricks and 47 mph 2 miles west of Lake Benton.
Occasional light snowfall totaled up to around one inch during a period of enhanced northwest wind gusts as high as 40 to 50 mph and led to a brief degradation in visibility to around one-quarter mile. With little or no pre-existing snow cover, impacts due to the lowest visibility periods were quite spotty and very brief.
Sustained winds reached 30 to 34 mph at times with a peak gust of 54 mph at a Minnesota Road Weather Information System site 1 mile west of Beaver Creek and 53 mph at a personal weather station in Luverne.
Sustained winds reached 30 to 34 mph at times with a peak gust of 47 mph at a Minnesota Road Weather Information System site 2 miles north of Trosky and 46 mph at a RAWS site near Pipestone.
Sustained winds reached 30 to 39 mph at times with a peak gust of 53 mph at a Minnesota Road Weather Information System site at Taunton and 45 mph at an Automated Weather Observing System site at Marshall.
Sustained winds reached 30 to 36 mph at times with a peak gust of 45 mph at an Automated Weather Observing System site at Slayton.
Sustained winds reached 30 to 39 mph at times with a peak gust of 48 mph at a Minnesota Road Weather Information System site near Rushmore and 47 mph at an Automated Weather Observing System site at Worthington.
Sustained winds reached 30 to 36 mph at times with a peak gust of 48 mph at a Minnesota Road Weather Information System site 4 miles east-northeast of Jeffers and 46 mph near Mountain Lake.
Sustained winds reached 30 to 32 mph at times at a Minnesota Road Weather Information System site 3 miles southeast of Lakefield and at an Automated Weather Observing System site at Jackson.
Occasional light snowfall totaled up to around one inch during a period of enhanced northwest wind gusts as high as 40 to 50 mph and led to a brief degradation in visibility to around one-quarter mile. With little or no pre-existing snow cover, impacts due to the lowest visibility periods were quite spotty and very brief.
Persistent northwest winds gusted as high as 35 to 44 mph with periods of very light snowfall, which contributed to a prolonged reduction in visibility to one-quarter mile or less. Travel was not recommended by the evening of January 16.
Persistent northwest winds gusted as high as 35 to 44 mph with periods of very light snowfall, which contributed to a prolonged reduction in visibility to one-quarter mile or less. Travel was not recommended by the evening of January 16 between Jackson and Windom.
Occasional light snowfall totaled generally less than one inch during a period of enhanced northwest wind gusts as high as 35 to 45 mph. This led to a brief degradation in visibility to around one-quarter mile. With little or no pre-existing snow cover, impacts due to the lowest visibility periods were quite spotty and very brief.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, January 2026
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: 1314124, 1314092, 1314115, 1314123, 1314125, 1314126, 1314128, 1314129, 1314130, 1314093, 1314078, 1314085, 1314101.