Blizzard in Traverse, Minnesota

The Wheaton AWOS recorded visibility of 1/4 to 1/2 mile from 12:30 pm through 5:30 pm with a peak wind gust of 35 mph at 4:33 pm. The Traverse County Sheriff issued a No Travel Advised statement at 2:30 pm which lasted through 6:00 am Wednesday due to a combination of high winds, low visibility, and slick road conditions. Traverse County also experienced a loss of power, with an outage total of 547 customers.

Blizzard conditions developed across west central Minnesota around mid-day. Both the Big Stone and Traverse County Sheriffs issued a No Travel Advised statement, which continued through 6:00 am Wednesday. The Wheaton AWOS and the Minnesota Department of Transportation Road Weather Information System (RWIS) station 3 miles west-southwest of Graceville both recorded visibility dropping to between 1/4 and 1/2 mile, with peak wind gusts of 35 to 40 mph. Traverse County also saw a total of 547 customers lose power during the storm. A total of 8.5 inches of snow was recorded by the COOP observer 6 miles northwest of Wheaton, while the Artichoke Lake COOP observer recorded 6.2 inches.