Blizzard in Cottonwood, Minnesota

Northerly winds gusted as high as 60 mph near Mountain Lake, 56 mph at Windom, and 55 mph 4 miles east-northeast of Jeffers. During and after a period of heavy snowfall which totaled 4.0 inches at Windom, visibility was reduced to near zero at times with blowing snow. Travel was snarled by closed state and federal highways during the height of the blizzard.

From March 15 through the early hours of March 16, a low-pressure system rapidly intensified over the Central Plains, generating a powerful wind field with gusts reaching 45 to 65 mph. Although limited antecedent snow cover 'maxing out at 1 to 2 inches in parts of the James River Valley'initially delayed widespread blowing snow, conditions deteriorated as precipitation intensified early on the 15th. In northwest Iowa, the storm began with several hours of freezing rain, resulting in ice accumulations of one-tenth to one-third of an inch. Additionally, plummeting temperatures created hazardous wind chills ranging from 15 below to 30 below zero.

Transportation was severely disrupted, leading to the closure of the Sioux Falls Regional Airport and most state and federal highways north of Interstate 90; travel was discouraged in nearly all other areas.