December 28, 2025 Winter Storm and Blizzard Conditions

Overview

On December 28, 2025 a powerful winter storm strengthened as is moved across the Midwest into the Great Lakes region. This brought snow and wind across Minnesota and Wisconsin, along with falling temperatures.

There were two areas of heavy snow that fell. One was along the Minnesota River Valley, and the other was across western Wisconsin. However, the strongest winds were also across the Minnesota River Valley, which lead to significant blowing and drifting snow.

The main impact was to travel, as this occurred over a busy holiday weekend. Several highways were impassable and had to be closed, including parts of I-35 from southern Minnesota into Iowa.

The strong wind and heavy snow led to blizzard conditions across much of the region. At its peak Sunday evening, the state Department of Transportations were advising people not to travel across much of the area.

Storm Reports
Meteorological Summary

Storm Reports

Snowfall amounts were that of a typical winter storm. However, the falling temperatures caused snow to transition from a wet heavy snow, to a light fluffy snow that was susceptible to blowing and drifting.

As the storm strengthened and the surface low deepened, wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph were observed across much of Minnesota, with a few locations seeing 50 to 60 mph winds. This led to significant blowing and drifting snow, with whiteout conditions.

...HIGHEST WIND REPORTS FROM DECEMBER 28-29, 2025...

Location                     Speed     Time/Date       Provider
Morris AP                    60 MPH    0255 PM 12/28   AWOS
Redwood Falls AP             54 MPH    0310 AM 12/29   ASOS
St. James AP                 53 MPH    1235 PM 12/28   AWOS
Fairmont AP                  51 MPH    0212 PM 12/28   AWOS
Benson AP                    49 MPH    0108 AM 12/29   AWOS
New Ulm AP                   48 MPH    0555 PM 12/28   AWOS
Montevideo AP                47 MPH    0135 AM 12/29   AWOS
Willmar AP                   46 MPH    0255 PM 12/28   AWOS
Crystal AP                   46 MPH    0110 PM 12/28   ASOS
Alexandria MN ASOS           44 MPH    1247 AM 12/29   ASOS
Granite Falls AP             44 MPH    0115 AM 12/29   AWOS
Mankato AP                   44 MPH    0458 PM 12/28   AWOS
Olivia AP                    44 MPH    0815 PM 12/28   AWOS
Canby AP                     43 MPH    0115 PM 12/28   AWOS
Madison AP                   43 MPH    0935 PM 12/28   AWOS
Albert Lea AP                40 MPH    0554 PM 12/29   AWOS
Hutchinson AP                40 MPH    0335 AM 12/29   AWOS
St. Cloud AP                 40 MPH    0309 AM 12/29   ASOS
St. Paul Dwtn AP             40 MPH    0156 PM 12/28   ASOS
Waseca AP                    39 MPH    0415 PM 12/28   AWOS
Eden Prairie AP              39 MPH    1233 PM 12/28   ASOS
Minneapolis-St. Paul AP      39 MPH    0540 AM 12/29   ASOS
Eau Claire AP                38 MPH    0459 PM 12/28   ASOS
Litchfield AP                38 MPH    0535 PM 12/28   AWOS
Owatonna AP                  37 MPH    1240 PM 12/28   AWOS
Paynesville AP               37 MPH    0155 AM 12/29   AWOS
Stanton AP                   37 MPH    0135 PM 12/28   AWOS
Glenwood AP                  36 MPH    0419 PM 12/28   AWOS
Glencoe AP                   36 MPH    0235 PM 12/28   AWOS
Cambridge AP                 35 MPH    0325 AM 12/29   AWOS
Mora AP                      35 MPH    0255 AM 12/29   AWOS
New Richmond AP              35 MPH    0250 AM 12/29   AWOS

Observed snowfall from December 28-29, 2025. The heaviest snow fell across east central Minnesota into western Wisconsin.

Web cameras courtesy of the MN DOT showed blowing snow and whiteout conditions from Sunday afternoon into Monday morning. This image was from MN Hwy 60, between Windom and St. James.

Meteorological Summary

The polar jet and subtropical jet phased together with this system into a single, coupled jet. When this happens, the winds increase, leading to strong forcing for ascent. This is often reflected in a surface low that deepens, which happened in this case. From 6 AM Saturday morning to 6 AM Sunday morning, the surface low went from 1000 mb down to 980 mb. That's a 20 mb drop in only 24 hours! This led to strong northwest winds and blizzard conditions across western and southern Minnesota.

Upper Level Jet

The images below are from the Storm Prediction Center High Resolution Ensemble Forecast (HREF).

The top row shows the 500 mb geopotential heights (brown lines) and winds (barbs / color fill) from 6am Saturday morning through 6am Sunday morning. Notice how there are two jet features over the Rocky Mountains Saturday morning, and over the next 24 hours the combine into one very strong upper level jet over the Great Lakes.

The bottom row is a surface map with mean sea level pressure (MSLP, black lines) and surface winds (brown wind barbs).


500mb winds, valid at 6 AM Saturday, Dec 27 2025	500mb winds, valid at 6 PM Saturday, Dec 27 2025	500mb winds, valid at 6 AM Sunday, Dec 28 2025

Surface Map


Surface map, valid at 6 AM Saturday, Dec 27 2025. The surface low is 1000 mb.	Surface map, valid at 6 PM Saturday, Dec 27 2025. The surface low is 992 mb.	Surface map, valid at 6 AM Sunday, Dec 28 2025. The surface low is 980 mb.

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