Blizzard — Mcleod, Minnesota

2014-01-26 · Mcleod, Minnesota

Event narrative

Local surface observations from trained spotters, combined with web cams, Minnesota Department of Transportation road conditions, and the added spin outs and crashes, blizzard conditions were noted from the afternoon, through the evening of Sunday, January 26th. A 55 year old man perished when he left his stranded car Sunday evening to walk in the storm, probably trying to get home. He was found dead the next morning south of Stewart. Another occupant of the vehicle made it to a neighbor's house. The temperature at Hutchinson at 11 pm was -7 and the wind was 28 mph gusting to 33 mph, yielding a wind chill around -35.

Wider weather episode

A blanket of light snow fell across central and southern Minnesota, as well as west central Wisconsin the evening of Saturday, January 26th. Locally 2 to 5 inches of snow fell during a 6 to 12 hour period before ending early Sunday morning. The snow was light and easily blown due to the high snowfall ratio.

The light snow was associated with an area of low pressure that moved from the Dakotas, southeast across southern Minnesota, and into the Great Lakes region by Sunday morning. As high pressure built across the Northern Plains Sunday morning, the pressure gradient strengthened, causing wind speeds to increase and develop blizzard conditions. The high winds continued through the afternoon, and into Sunday evening before slowly decreasing after midnight, allowing for conditions to improve.

Numerous highways, including I-90 and I-94, closed during the height of the storm. The blizzard conditions developed Sunday morning from the Red River Valley, south and eastward across portions of central and southern Minnesota. The worst areas occurred in the southwest where in a period of 3 hours, from 3 pm to 6 pm, over 15 county roads, and Interstate 90 closed due to white out conditions, along with snow over the roadway. Wind gusts over 50 mph occurred over a wide area of west central, south central into southeast Minnesota. Sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph occurred between 2 and 6 pm which was the worst time in terms of drifting snow over the highways. The Minnesota Department of Transportation advised travelers as early as 2 pm Sunday that roads were becoming hazardous, and no travel was advised.

At one point, 52 stranded travelers were sheltered overnight at the Olivia Armory & 69 were sheltered in Albert Lea.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 486318. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.