On Saturday, February 23 and Sunday, February 24 a very powerful winter storm brought whiteout conditions across much of Minnesota and Wisconsin. A narrow band of heavy snow fell from central Iowa, through southeast Minnesota, and up through northern Wisconsin. Several locations within this band saw over a foot of snow (orange shading). Very strong winds developed as the snow was ending Saturday night and these winds continued through Sunday. Many locations had wind gusts of 50 mph or stronger. This led to significant blowing and drifting snow, making travel very difficult or impossible. Most roads in southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin were impassable, and hundreds of motorists became stranded in the blizzard. Portions of Interstate 90 and Interstate 35 were closed for over 24 hours in south central Minnesota.



Map of observed snowfall from February 23,24. The yellow shading shows amounts over 6 inches, and the orange shading shows amounts in excess of a foot. The snow was difficult to measure due the very strong winds that accompanied this storm.