Extreme Cold/Wind Chill — Washington, Minnesota

2022-12-23 · Washington, Minnesota

Event narrative

Many hours with wind chill colder than -35 degrees observed. The strongest wind gusts occurred on 12/23 at 10:35 AM at 32 mph at the Lake Elmo Airport in Lake Elmo, MN. A 20 year old man died of cold weather exposure after leaving the bar on foot in Stillwater MN.

Wider weather episode

Arctic air began moving across the Upper Midwest on Dec 21-22 following the snow. Winds increased from west to east across the forecast area, creating dangerously cold wind chills of -30 to -48F.

The coldest wind chill temperatures favored Western Minnesota given the physical geography of the land and lack of friction of surrounding structures. Morris Municipal Airport in Stevens County and Benson Municipal Airport in Swift County recorded the lowest observed wind chills at -48. Glenwood Airport in Pope County recorded -45 as well as St. James Municipal Airport in Watonwan County. The third lowest wind chill (-44) was observed at the Olivia Regional Airport in Renville County.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1064377. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.