Blizzard — West Otter Tail, Minnesota

2022-01-04 to 2022-01-05 · West Otter Tail, Minnesota

Event narrative

Winds gusted at 35 to 52 mph, with visibilities at or below 1/4 mile due to falling and blowing snow for several hours. From 2 to 4 inches of new snow occurred along with existing blowable snowpack.

Wider weather episode

A blizzard developed in the afternoon hours on January 4th across eastern ND towards the Red River Valley, and adjacent counties in northwest through westcentral MN. Impacts where felt across the area, with blowing and drifting snow, strong gusting winds, and visibilities at or below 1/4 mile, often at whiteout conditions. This prompted the Travel not Advised across most of eastern ND and within the Red River Valley corridor of MN. Highest wind gusts were observed around 45-52mph across the RRV and towards the west. Snow totals ranged from 3-5 inches around the Highway 2 Corridor, and 1-3 further south.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1005469. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.