Extreme Cold/Wind Chill — Washington, Minnesota

2016-12-18 · Washington, Minnesota

Event narrative

An individual froze outside while taking photographs of the surrounding landscape.

Wider weather episode

The coldest air mass in nearly 3 years overspread the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest Saturday night and Sunday morning, December 17th-18th. A new snow pack had occurred a day before, and temperatures fell into the teens and 20s below zero, and wind chill values dropped into the -35F to -50F degree range. Temperatures bottomed out shortly after sunrise, but only rose a few degrees by noon. Wind chill values averaged between -35 to -50F for several hours before temperatures rose into the single digits below zero.

The coldest wind chill values occurred in west central Minnesota which the combined temperature of -25F and winds around 10-15 mph, created wind chill values near -50F during the early morning hours of Sunday, December, 18th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 666333. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.