[Wind Chill] [Wind Gusts] [Temperature Change] [Snow]
An arctic front pushed through the Upper Mississippi River Valley Saturday afternoon, February 9th, bringing some light snow as it moved through. Amounts were small, mostly an inch or less. More significantly, the front brought with it strong winds and appreciably colder air.
The winds picked up in the afternoon, and by the evening most locations were blowing from the northwest at 15 to 30 mph. Gusts were even higher, gusting over 45 mph in some locations. The strong winds blew around the falling, and already fallen snow, leading to some blowing and drifting of the snow. This was more a problem for open and unsheltered areas (such as southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa), along with area ridge-tops. Some of the drifting led to treacherous travel and nearly impassable rural roads early Sunday morning (the 10th).
The cold air funneled in Saturday night, with temperatures tumbling into the single digits and teens below zero Sunday morning. Factoring in the strong winds, wind chill readings of 30 to 45 degrees below zero were common from late Saturday night through early Sunday morning. There was some decrease in the winds that afternoon, but bitter cold still persisted as temperatures stayed below zero and which chills ranged from -20 to -30.
In response to these dangerous winter conditions, the NWS in La Crosse issued winter weather advisories for Saturday afternoon and evening, with wind chill warnings overnight Saturday through Sunday morning. A wind chill advisory was needed for Sunday afternoon as the dangerous wind chills persisted.
...MINIMUM WIND CHILLS... STATION COUNTY TIME WIND CHILL DEXTER RWIS MOWER 741 AM -46 F MEDFORD AWOS TAYLOR 835 AM -46 F CENTURY HIGH SCHOOL AWS OLMSTED 844 AM -46 F ST CHARLES 4W RWIS OLMSTED 801 AM -45 F LOYAL SCHOOL AWS CLARK 844 AM -44 F BYRON/KASSON RWIS DODGE 834 AM -43 F ROCHESTER ASOS OLMSTED 854 AM -43 F PRESTON AWOS FILLMORE 815 AM -43 F MFL MARMAC ES/HS MONONA IA CLAYTON 844 AM -42 F FRIENDSHIP AWS ADAMS 744 AM -42 F DODGE CENTER AWOS DODGE 835 AM -41 F WILLOW CREEK - KIMT OLMSTED 736 AM -39 F RICEVILLE - KIMT HOWARD 816 AM -39 F VOLK FIELD JUNEAU 855 AM -39 F JOHN ADAMS - KIMT OLMSTED 656 AM -39 F STANLEY 1 SE RWIS CHIPPEWA 703 AM -39 F AUSTIN AWOS MOWER 836 AM -39 F NEW HAMPTON AWS CHICKASAW 709 AM -38 F TOMAH 4N RWIS MONROE 807 AM -38 F RICHLAND CENTER AWS RICHLAND 644 AM -37 F WSU CAMPUS WINONA 644 AM -37 F WISC DELLS AWOS SAUK 555 AM -37 F CRESCO KIMT HOWARD 622 AM -37 F PRESTON KIMT FILLMORE 556 AM -37 F ALMA AWS BUFFALO 629 AM -37 F MOUNT STERLING 1S RWIS CRAWFORD 708 AM -37 F NECEDAH RAWS JUNEAU 548 AM -37 F ARCADIA HILL RWIS TREMPEALEAU 510 AM -36 F BUFFALO LUTHERAN AWS BUFFALO 859 AM -36 F TURKEY VALLEY AWS CHICKASAW 644 AM -36 F ROCHESTER LINCOLN AWS OLMSTED 645 AM -35 F CRESTWOOD AWS HOWARD 709 AM -35 F PLAINVIEW AWS WABASHA 644 AM -35 F PRAIRIE DU CHIEN AWS CRAWFORD 759 AM -35 F RIVERDALE SCHOOL AWS GRANT 709 AM -35 F CHARLES CITY AWOS FLOYD 455 AM -35 F LA CROSSE ASOS LA CROSSE 848 AM -35 F FENNIMORE ELEMENTARY AWS GRANT 859 AM -34 F OELWEIN AWOS FAYETTE 655 AM -34 F SPARTA AWOS MONROE 855 AM -33 F OSAGE - KIMT MITCHELL 716 AM -33 F PRAIRIE DU CHIEN AWOS CRAWFORD 815 AM -32 F WINONA AWOS WINONA 717 AM -32 F DECORAH AWOS WINNESHIEK 535 AM -31 F BOSCOBEL ASOS GRANT 653 AM -29 F DICKEYVILLE RWIS GRANT 503 AM -26 F KEY TO OBSERVATION TYPES AWS - SENSORS FROM AWS INCORPORATED. OFTEN LOCATED AT SCHOOLS. RWIS - ROAD WEATHER INFORMATION SYSTEMS. LOCATED ON MAJOR ROADS AND BRIDGES. RAWS - FIRE WEATHER OBSERVATIONS. OFTEN LOCATED IN FORESTS. ASOS/AWOS - AVIATION WEATHER OBSERVATIONS. LOCATED AT AIRPORTS. OBSERVATIONS ARE COLLECTED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES WITH VARYING EQUIPMENT AND EXPOSURE. NOT ALL DATA LISTED IS CONSIDERED OFFICIAL.
Behind the arctic cold front, temperatures fell from late Saturday (February 9th) morning and afternoon through Sunday morning (February 10th). During this time period, temperatures fell anywhere from 34 to 42 degrees across northeast Iowa, southeast Minnesota, and western Wisconsin. The largest drop in temperature (42 degrees) occurred in central and north central Wisconsin (Friendship, Loyal, and Medford).
In Northeast Iowa...
High Low
Temp Temp Temp
Location County Fall Feb 9 Feb 10
-------- ------ ---- ---- ------
Crestwood AWS Howard 39 26 -13
New Hampton AWS Chickasaw 38 24 -14
Turkey Valley AWS Chickasaw 38 26 -12
Riceville - KIMT Howard 37 24 -13
Charles City AWOS Floyd 36 28 -8
Cresco KIMT Howard 36 24 -12
Osage - KIMT Mitchell 36 24 -12
Decorah AWOS Winneshiek 36 28 -8
Oelwein AWOS Fayette 34 28 -6
In Southeast Minnesota...
High Low
Temp Temp Temp
Location County Fall Feb 9 Feb 10
-------- ------ ---- ---- ------
Plainview AWS Wabasha 41 25 -16
WSU Campus Winona 40 28 -12
Willow Creek - KIMT Olmsted 40 25 -15
Century High School AWS Olmsted 39 21 -18
Rochester Kellogg - KIMT Olmsted 39 24 -15
Rochester Lincoln AWS Olmsted 39 23 -16
Austin AWOS Mower 38 27 -11
Dexter RWIS Mower 38 24 -14
Dodge Center AWOS Dodge 38 25 -13
Grand Meadow - KIMT Mower 38 22 -16
Preston AWOS Fillmore 38 27 -11
St Charles 4W RWIS Olmsted 38 24 -14
Winona AWOS Winona 38 30 -8
Byron/Kasson RWIS Dodge 37 23 -14
Albert Lea - KIMT Freeborn 37 23 -14
Preston KIMT Fillmore 37 25 -12
Rochester ASOS Olmsted 37 25 -12
Rochester - John Adams Olmsted 37 23 -14
In Western Wisconsin...
High Low
Temp Temp Temp
Location County Fall Feb 9 Feb 10
-------- ------ ---- ---- ------
Friendship AWS Adams 42 25 -17
Loyal School AWS Clark 42 26 -16
Medford AWOS Taylor 42 25 -17
Prairie Du Chien AWS Crawford 41 30 -11
Richland Center AWS Richland 41 28 -13
Fennimore Elementary AWS Grant 40 28 -12
Riverdale School AWS Grant 40 29 -11
Alma AWS Buffalo 39 23 -16
Buffalo Lutheran AWS Buffalo 39 25 -14
Tomah 4N RWIS Monroe 39 28 -11
Black River Falls RAWS Jackson 38 27 -11
Necedah RAWS Juneau 38 27 -11
Wisc Dells AWOS Sauk 38 28 -10
Boscobel ASOS Grant 37 31 -6
Jackson Pass 5W Tomah RWIS Monroe 37 26 -11
La Crosse ASOS La Crosse 37 27 -10
Mount Sterling 1S RWIS Crawford 37 27 -10
Volk Field Juneau 37 26 -11
Dickeyville RWIS Grant 36 29 -7
La Crosse - NWS La Crosse 36 24 -12
Prairie Du Chien AWOS Crawford 36 28 -8
Sparta AWOS Monroe 36 28 -8
Arcadia Hill RWIS Trempealeau 35 23 -12
...HIGHEST WINDS SORTED BY GUSTS... STATION COUNTY TIME SPEED GUST DEXTER RWIS MOWER 806 PM 33 MPH 46 MPH PRESTON AWOS FILLMORE 1015 PM 36 MPH 46 MPH ROCHESTER ASOS OLMSTED 511 PM 36 MPH 45 MPH ST CHARLES 4W RWIS OLMSTED 216 PM 31 MPH 44 MPH BYRON/KASSON RWIS DODGE 949 PM 29 MPH 44 MPH MOUNT STERLING 1S RWIS CRAWFORD 208 AM 23 MPH 44 MPH OELWEIN AWOS FAYETTE 135 AM 31 MPH 43 MPH CHARLES CITY AWOS FLOYD 135 AM 31 MPH 43 MPH ARCADIA HILL RWIS TREMPEALEAU 1010 PM 22 MPH 41 MPH DODGE CENTER AWOS DODGE 1035 PM 25 MPH 41 MPH STANLEY 1 SE RWIS CHIPPEWA 1103 PM 25 MPH 41 MPH AUSTIN AWOS MOWER 1256 PM 31 MPH 41 MPH VOLK FIELD JUNEAU 655 PM 25 MPH 40 MPH MEDFORD AWOS TAYLOR 535 PM 29 MPH 39 MPH NECEDAH RAWS JUNEAU 248 AM 21 MPH 39 MPH TOMAH 4N RWIS MONROE 1207 AM 23 MPH 36 MPH WISC DELLS AWOS SAUK 315 AM 14 MPH 35 MPH LA CROSSE ASOS LA CROSSE 1253 AM 18 MPH 33 MPH PRAIRIE DU CHIEN AWOS CRAWFORD 856 PM 21 MPH 33 MPH WINONA AWOS WINONA 1017 PM 22 MPH 32 MPH SPARTA AWOS MONROE 1235 AM 25 MPH 32 MPH DECORAH AWOS WINNESHIEK 155 PM 20 MPH 31 MPH DICKEYVILLE RWIS GRANT 203 AM 15 MPH 31 MPH BOSCOBEL ASOS GRANT 1253 AM 22 MPH 31 MPH
KEY TO OBSERVATION TYPES
AWS - SENSORS FROM AWS INCORPORATED. OFTEN LOCATED AT SCHOOLS.
RWIS - ROAD WEATHER INFORMATION SYSTEMS. LOCATED ON MAJOR ROADS AND BRIDGES.
RAWS - FIRE WEATHER OBSERVATIONS. OFTEN LOCATED IN FORESTS.
ASOS/AWOS - AVIATION WEATHER OBSERVATIONS. LOCATED AT AIRPORTS.
OBSERVATIONS ARE COLLECTED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES WITH VARYING EQUIPMENT
AND EXPOSURE. NOT ALL DATA LISTED IS CONSIDERED OFFICIAL.
...24 HOUR SNOWFALL TOTALS AND SNOW DEPTH ACROSS THE AREA...
LOCATION SNOWFALL DEPTH LAT/LON
IOWA
...ALLAMAKEE COUNTY...
LANSING 4SE 0.6 9 43.32N 91.16W
WAUKON 2.0 14 43.27N 91.48W
...CLAYTON COUNTY...
ELKADER 6SSW 0.2 10 42.79N 91.45W
VOLGA 1NE T 11 42.81N 91.52W
...FAYETTE COUNTY...
FAYETTE T 3 42.85N 91.82W
...FLOYD COUNTY...
CHARLES CITY COOP T 5 43.08N 92.67W
...HOWARD COUNTY...
CRESCO 0.7 3 43.39N 92.09W
ELMA 0.2 10 43.24N 92.44W
MINNESOTA
...HOUSTON COUNTY...
CALEDONIA 0.4 7 43.69N 91.50W
...MOWER COUNTY...
GRAND MEADOW 0.8 9 43.71N 92.56W
...OLMSTED COUNTY...
ELGIN 2SSW 1.0 11 44.10N 92.27W
ROCHESTER INTL AIRPORT 0.2 8 43.91N 92.50W
...WABASHA COUNTY...
LAKE CITY COOP 1.3 10 44.43N 92.28W
WABASHA 0.8 10 44.39N 92.05W
ZUMBRO FALLS 1.5 13 44.29N 92.43W
...WINONA COUNTY...
WINONA DAM 5A 1.0 11 44.09N 91.67W
WISCONSIN
...ADAMS COUNTY...
FRIENDSHIP 0.6 8 43.98N 89.83W
...CLARK COUNTY...
NEILLSVILLE 3SW T 15 44.53N 90.64W
...CRAWFORD COUNTY...
GAYS MILLS 1.3 9 43.32N 90.85W
...JUNEAU COUNTY...
NECEDAH 2SE 0.4 10 44.00N 90.04W
...LA CROSSE COUNTY...
LA CROSSE AIRPORT 0.5 7 43.88N 91.26W
...MONROE COUNTY...
WARRENS 5WSW 0.8 13 44.10N 90.59W
...TAYLOR COUNTY...
MEDFORD T 19 45.13N 90.34W
...TREMPEALEAU COUNTY...
BLAIR 0.2 9 44.29N 91.22W
OSSEO 0.5 13 44.58N 91.22W
...VERNON COUNTY...
WESTBY 3ENE 1.0 4 43.67N 90.81W
OBSERVATIONS ARE COLLECTED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES WITH VARYING
EQUIPMENT AND EXPOSURE. NOT ALL DATA LISTED IS CONSIDERED OFFICIAL.