Blizzard — Big Stone, Minnesota

2025-11-25 · Big Stone, Minnesota

Event narrative

The Big Stone County Sheriff reported white-out conditions and issued a No Travel Advised statement for Big Stone County. The Sheriff also reported several vehicles in the ditch and a semi jackknifed across Highway 12 east of Ortonville. The Minnesota Department of Transportation Road Weather Information System (RWIS) 3 miles west-southwest of Graceville recorded visibility dropping to between 1/4 and 1/2 mile with wind gusts as high as 39 mph starting around 1:00 pm, before the sensor lost power at 2:10 pm. The COOP observer at Artichoke Lake also reported that blizzard conditions were ongoing at 6:00 pm with a total accumulation of 6.2 inches.

Wider weather episode

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.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1298030. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.