Emergency.Blog

Major Chill Comes to Mid-West - COLD WARNING

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
1123 AM CST SAT FEB 3 2007

...DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN...

.NORTHWEST WINDS OF 15 AND 25 MPH WILL BE COMMON ACROSS MUCH OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN TODAY.

THESE WIND SPEEDS COMBINED WITH SUB-ZERO TEMPERATURES WILL LOWER WIND CHILLS BETWEEN 25 AND 40 DEGREES BELOW ZERO. WIND CHILLS WILL CONTINUE TO REACH DANGEROUS LEVELS THROUGH MONDAY MORNING WITH THE LOWEST WIND CHILL TEMPERATURES EXPECTED DURING THE MORNING HOURS...WHEN VALUES WILL APPROACH NEAR 50 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ACROSS WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA. WIND CHILLS FROM 30 TO 40 BELOW WILL OCCUR ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN

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URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
1119 AM CST SAT FEB 3 2007

...AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS EXPECTED...

.ARCTIC AIR WILL SETTLE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY THROUGH AT LEAST TUESDAY. AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF COLD WEATHER OF THIS MAGNITUDE HAS NOT BEEN SEEN ACROSS THE REGION FOR SEVERAL YEARS. LOW TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE BELOW ZERO THROUGH AT LEAST MONDAY NIGHT WITH WIND CAUSING WIND CHILLS TO FREQUENTLY FALL BELOW -20 DEGREES.

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 12 PM CST TUESDAY.

STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS COMBINED WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE AND BELOW ZERO WILL PRODUCE WIND CHILLS OF 20 TO 30 BELOW ZERO TODAY.

EVEN COLDER AIR IS EXPECTED TO SETTLE ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY WITH LOW TEMPERATURES GOING WELL BELOW ZERO. HIGH TEMPERATURES IN SOME AREAS MAY NOT GET ABOVE ZERO.

DUE TO THE STRENGTH OF THE ARCTIC AIR...WIND CHILL WARNINGS MAY BE NEEDED FROM TIME TO TIME OVER PARTS OF THE ADVISORY AREA.

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MEANS THAT VERY COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE LOW WIND CHILLS...RESULTING IN FROST BITE AND HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUTDOORS...DRESS IN LAYERS COVERING EXPOSED SKIN. FROSTBITE WILL OCCUR IN A FEW AS 10 MINUTES IN THESE CONDITIONS

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URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
142 PM EST SAT FEB 3 2007

...BLIZZARD CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON...

.AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT IS PUSHING EAST THROUGH SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN AT MIDDAY. LAKE EFFECT SNOW IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THIS AFTERNOON ALONG WITH WINDY CONDITIONS. BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ALONG THE LAKESHORE AND FOR MOST OF THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE AREA FROM INTERSTATE 96 TO INTERSTATE 94. THE COMBINATION OF SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL RESULT IN FREQUENT WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. WIND CHILL VALUES WILL RANGE FROM

5 TO 20 BELOW ZERO THIS AFTERNOON.

...WINTER STORM WARNING IS CANCELLED...
..BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EST THIS EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND RAPIDS HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EST THIS EVENING. THE WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

LAKE EFFECT SNOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY AND THIS EVENING. WEST WINDS WILL GUST AT TIMES TO 40 MPH THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY EVENING. IT IS DURING THIS TIME THAT BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED...WITH FREQUENT WHITEOUT CONDITIONS DUE TO THE COMBINATION OF SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW.

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED. TRAVEL WILL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED...STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.

WIND CHILLS OF 10 TO 20 BELOW ZERO TODAY WILL LOWER TO 20 TO 30 BELOW TONIGHT. THIS MAY RESULT IN FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUTDOORS...DRESS IN LAYERS AND MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HAT AND GLOVES.

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS...MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST...HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED...STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.

-- SOURCE: National Weather Service

Additional reference:

COLD Weather injuries
By Paul Anderson, Metro Correspondent
http://www.emergency.com/coldwthr.htm