Blizzard in Watonwan, Minnesota

The AWOS station located in St. James Municipal Airport reported several hours of blizzard conditions with visibility less than one quarter mile and a max wind gust of 41 mph.

A stacked surface low was located over northeastern MN. An area of deformation developed across the Dakotas and moved slowly into Minnesota. Forcing within the mid-levels allowed for moderate to heavy snow to fall across western MN. Additionally, due to the strength of the pressure gradient, wind gusts across much of western MN ranged between 35 to 50 mph. The rate of falling and blowing snow reduced visibility to whiteout conditions, making many roadways impassible. Snow lingered for several hours before finally dissipating the afternoon of the following day. Storm total snowfall ranged between a few inches up to 9.5 inches.

The highest measured snowfall totals from this event are:

9.5 inches ENE of Prior Lake (Scott)

8.5 inches in Shorewood (Hennepin)

7.7 inches in Waconia (Carver)

7.0 inches 1 E of Granite Falls (Chippewa)

7.0 inches 3 SSW of Elko New Market (Rice).

The strongest wind gusts measured from this event were:

50 mph at Canby Municipal Airport (Yellow Medicine)

48 mph at Redwood Falls Municipal Airport (Redwood)

48 mph at New Ulm Municipal Airport (Brown)

44 mph at Mankato Regional Airport (Blue Earth).