Blizzard winds reached severe thunderstorm velocity

Heavy snow blanketed areas around the Red River Valley Monday. Some of that light fluffy snow is probably sitting in Iowa today.(NWS Grand Forks image)

The ferocity of Monday's blizzard was not lost on anyone who saw the whiteout. I cannot remember the last time I saw that many towns with visibilities below 1/4 mile in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Iowa at one time.

What you might not know is that the wind gusts with Monday's blizzard reached severe thunderstorm strength. Morris clocked wind gusts of 58mph Monday. That's the threshold for NWS issuance of severe thunderstorm warnings.

Several locations recorded wind gusts over 50mph. Here are a few.

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Morris: 58 mph

Moorhead: 55 mph

Grand Forks: 52 mph

Fargo & Fergus Falls: 51 mph

Numerous locations also recorded gusts well over 40 mph.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENTNATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS PM CST MON JAN 25 2010...

PEAK WIND GUSTS FROM MONDAY......ASOS/AWOSSENSORS...

MOORHEAD................55 MPH AT 814 AM

GRAND FORKS.............52 MPH AT 655 AM

FARGO...................51 MPH AT 953 AM

ELBOW LAKE..............51 MPH AT 855 AM

FERGUS FALLS............51 MPH AT 853 AM

DEVILS LAKE.............49 MPH AT 835 AM

GRAND FORKS AIR BASE....49 MPH AT 137 PM

WAHPETON................48 MPH AT 851 AM

CROOKSTON...............48 MPH AT 715 AM

WADENA..................44 MPH AT 357 AM

THIEF RIVER FALLS.......41 MPH AT 835 AM

BAUDETTE................40 MPH AT 509 AM

FOSSTON.................38 MPH AT 214 AM

ROSEAU..................37 MPH AT 935 AM

WARROAD.................37 MPH AT 1214 PM

PARK RAPIDS.............36 MPH AT 233 AM

BEMIDJI.................33 MPH AT 415 AM

These high sustained winds and gusts whipped the dry powdery snow several hundred feet into the air. It's likely that some of the snow crystals that hit the ground in the Red River Valley Monday were sent airborne and came to rest in Iowa last night.

ER visits skyrocket:

One of the often overlooked effects of our recent weather is the layer of ice underneath our fresh snow. I know personally, my feet flew out from under me taking the Weather Lab recycling out to the street last night. It was a good thing I had my hands on the recycle bin. Many Minnesotans were not as fortunate, as victims of falls filled up the ER at Twin Cities' hospitals yesterday.

Be careful walking these days, or choose another option. Saturday's rain is now glare ice underneath snow cover.

Brighter Days:

Our return to sunnier weather this week means you'll really notice the increasing daylight. We're gaining nearly 3 minutes of daylight a day now. Sunrise at 7:38am and sunset of 5:14pm in the Twin Cities this week means it's bright again for many folks during the drive to and from work.

We're at 9 hours and 36 minutes of daylight in the metro this week. That's an increase of nearly an hour since the winter solstice in late December. Even as we slog through "the dog days of winter" It won't be long before that longer daylight and ever higher sun angle starts having a positive effect on our daily high temperatures.

Hang in there!

PH