Overview
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On Saturday, February 23 and Sunday, February 24 a very powerful winter storm brought whiteout conditions across much of Minnesota and Wisconsin. A narrow band of heavy snow fell from central Iowa, through southeast Minnesota, and up through northern Wisconsin. Several locations within this band saw over a foot of snow (orange shading). Very strong winds developed as the snow was ending Saturday night and these winds continued through Sunday. Many locations had wind gusts of 50 mph or stronger. This led to significant blowing and drifting snow, making travel very difficult or impossible. Most roads in southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin were impassable, and hundreds of motorists became stranded in the blizzard. Portions of Interstate 90 and Interstate 35 were closed for over 24 hours in south central Minnesota. |
 Map of observed snowfall from February 23,24. The yellow shading shows amounts over 6 inches, and the orange shading shows amounts in excess of a foot. The snow was difficult to measure due the very strong winds that accompanied this storm. |
Travel Impacts
This blizzard brought significant travel impacts across Minnesota and Wisconsin. Drifting snow made most roads impassable. The Minnesota National Guard helped rescue stranded motorists, and hundreds of people were taken to temporary shelters until travel became safe.
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| Road conditions across Minnesota Sunday afternoon. Many roads were closed (red circles) and MNDOT was advising no travel. | Road conditions across Wisconsin Sunday morning. Travel was not advised across much of the main roadways (black). |
Photos
Snow drifts of several feet were common across southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Some locations had drifts of 10 feet or more.
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| Road closed near Tracy MN with snow drifts several feet deep. Photo courtesy of HSEM. | Towering snow drift in southern MN. Photo courtesy of Staci Hinnenkamp. | Snow and blowing snow in western Wisconsin near Rice Lake. Photo courtesy of Dirk Miller. | Snow-covered road with near zero visibility in central Minnesota. Photo courtesy of HSEM. |
Meteorology and Radar
One of the more impressive traits about this storm was how quickly it strengthened. This can be seen by looking at the deepening that occurred in the mean sea level pressure (mslp). The maps below shows a model's depiction of the surface pressure from Saturday evening through Sunday afternoon. This rapid intensification was the primary reason why winds were so strong, and lasted for so long. Blizzard conditions prevailed many hours after the falling snow had ended.
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| Model depicted mean sea level pressure showing the Surface Low Saturday evening across southeast Iowa. The minimum pressure is 997 millibars (mb). | Model depicted mean sea level pressure showing the Surface Low Saturday night across southern Wisconsin.The storm is strengthening as it lifts northward across the Upper Midwest. | Model depicted mean sea level pressure showing the Surface Low Sunday morning across northern Michigan. The storm is quickly intensifying. | Model depicted mean sea level pressure showing the Surface Low Sunday afternoon across southern Ontario. The storm has rapidly intensified and its MSLP is less than 980 mb. That's over a 20 mb drop in 18 hours! |
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| Radar reflectivity showing the heavy snow across eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, and southern Minnesota Saturday evening. | Radar reflectivity showing the heavy snow across eastern Minnesota and Wisconsin Saturday night. | Radar reflectivity showing the lingering snow across Wisconsin Sunday morning. | Radar reflectivity showing little to no snow across the region, yet blizzard conditions were in full force as winds gusted to near 50 mph. |
Storm Reports
...PEAK WIND REPORTS AS OF 6 PM FEBRUARY 24 2019.. Location Speed Time/Date Provider St. Paul Dwtn AP 62 MPH 1049 AM 02/24 ASOS Clara City 2WSW 55 MPH 1005 AM 02/24 MNDOT New Ulm AP 55 MPH 1055 AM 02/24 AWOS Waseca AP 54 MPH 0119 PM 02/24 AWOS Redwood Falls AP 54 MPH 1132 AM 02/24 ASOS Willmar AP 52 MPH 1036 AM 02/24 AWOS Fairmont AP 52 MPH 1109 AM 02/24 AWOS Alexandria AP 51 MPH 1219 PM 02/24 ASOS Ellendale 5NNE 51 MPH 1141 AM 02/24 MNDOT Winthrop 2W 50 MPH 1145 AM 02/24 MNDOT Cannon Falls 7SSE 50 MPH 1215 PM 02/24 MNDOT Benson AP 49 MPH 1236 PM 02/24 AWOS Eau Claire AP 49 MPH 0340 PM 02/24 ASOS Mankato AP 49 MPH 1025 AM 02/24 AWOS Blue Earth 2NW 49 MPH 1110 AM 02/24 MNDOT New Germany 1NW 49 MPH 0945 AM 02/24 MNDOT Waseca 1SSE 49 MPH 1120 AM 02/24 MNDOT St. Cloud AP 49 MPH 0211 PM 02/24 ASOS Eden Prairie AP 48 MPH 1237 PM 02/24 ASOS Glenwood AP 48 MPH 1116 AM 02/24 AWOS Litchfield 3S 48 MPH 1211 PM 02/24 RAWS Crystal AP 48 MPH 1246 PM 02/24 ASOS Starbuck 8SSW 48 MPH 1100 AM 02/24 MNDOT Morris AP 48 MPH 1136 AM 02/24 AWOS Minneapolis-St. Paul AP 48 MPH 1224 PM 02/24 ASOS Alexandria 2SSE 47 MPH 1130 AM 02/24 MNDOT Sauk Centre 2SE 47 MPH 1110 AM 02/24 MNDOT Litchfield AP 46 MPH 1115 AM 02/24 AWOS Lakeville AP 46 MPH 1216 PM 02/24 AWOS Hanley Falls 46 MPH 1040 AM 02/24 MNDOT Madelia 3ENE 46 MPH 1045 AM 02/24 MNDOT Olivia AP 46 MPH 0259 PM 02/24 AWOS Owatonna AP 46 MPH 1052 AM 02/24 AWOS Cumberland AP 46 MPH 0435 PM 02/24 AWOS Long Prairie AP 45 MPH 1016 AM 02/24 AWOS Granite Falls AP 45 MPH 1036 AM 02/24 AWOS Rice 1NNW 45 MPH 0320 PM 02/24 MNDOT Stanley 1SSE 45 MPH 1056 AM 02/24 WIDOT Albert Lea AP 44 MPH 0456 PM 02/24 AWOS Blaine AP 44 MPH 0145 PM 02/24 AWOS Menomonie AP 44 MPH 0155 PM 02/24 AWOS New Richmond AP 44 MPH 0235 PM 02/24 AWOS Stanton AP 44 MPH 0115 PM 02/24 AWOS Sauk Centre AP 43 MPH 1155 AM 02/24 AWOS Madison AP 43 MPH 1055 AM 02/24 AWOS Glencoe AP 43 MPH 1115 AM 02/24 AWOS Hutchinson AP 43 MPH 1035 AM 02/24 AWOS 1 NW Camp Ripley 43 MPH 0356 PM 02/24 NONFEDAWOS Clearwater 1SE 43 MPH 1015 AM 02/24 MNDOT Belgrade 3ESE 43 MPH 1045 AM 02/24 MNDOT Red Wing 4W 43 MPH 0900 AM 02/24 MNDOT Marietta 5SSW 43 MPH 0820 AM 02/24 MNDOT Montevideo AP 43 MPH 0135 PM 02/24 AWOS Osceola AP 43 MPH 0235 PM 02/24 AWOS Princeton AP 43 MPH 1256 PM 02/24 AWOS Carver 3S 43 MPH 1049 AM 02/24 RAWS River Falls 4NW 43 MPH 0256 PM 02/24 WIDOT Harding 3WNW 42 MPH 1220 PM 02/24 MNDOT Cambridge AP 41 MPH 0356 PM 02/24 AWOS Ladysmith 2SW 41 MPH 0505 PM 02/24 RAWS Tony AP 41 MPH 0335 PM 02/24 AWOS Rice Lake AP 41 MPH 0155 PM 02/24 AWOS South St. Paul AP 41 MPH 0215 PM 02/24 AWOS Lake Elmo AP 40 MPH 0136 PM 02/24 AWOS Mayer 1NE 40 MPH 0400 PM 02/24 MNDOT Chetek AP 40 MPH 0135 PM 02/24 AWOS
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