A strong arctic cold front moved southward across the Upper Midwest during the afternoon and evening of Sunday, February 7th.
A recent winter storm produced 2 to 4 inches of snow in west central Minnesota, with amounts of 6 to 10 inches farther to the southeast across southwest and south central Minnesota. Preceding the front on Sunday,  temperatures rose into the lower 40s across most of west central, with 30s in southwest and south central Minnesota. Those temperatures, combined with milder temperatures a few days before that preceding front, melted a significant portion of the snow cover in west central Minnesota, with southwest and south central Minnesota losing some snow cover. These conditions produced a crust, or a layer of ice where the snow melted, therefore limiting blowing snow during the onset.
The initial blizzard warning was delayed a few hours due to stronger winds not developing until the evening, and lack of additional snowfall leading up to the frontal passage.
The combination of strong cold air advection and a tightening pressure gradient, caused wind speeds to increase significantly Sunday evening. Several airport observations and supplemental observations from county sheriff officials, observed deteriorating conditions after midnight, with whiteout conditions reported in several counties by 3 AM CST, Monday morning.
Light snow also accompanied the arctic front, but snowfall amounts were generally one inch or less, and mainly from Redwood Falls, southeast toward Fairmont. Farther to the northwest in west central Minnesota, snowfall amounts were less than one half inch, plus most of this area had little or no snow cover, therefore, whiteout conditions were more isolated and didn't last as long. Farther to the east toward Mankato and Albert Lea, snowfall amounts were again lighter and less than one half inch, but snow cover in this area was deeper than in west central Minnesota, and had less melting prior to the arctic front arrival.
By Monday morning, wind speeds had averaged 30 to 40 mph, with frequent gusts of 40 to 50 mph along the Buffalo Ridge, east to the Minnesota River Valley, and south to the Iowa border. The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed several roads, including I-90 west of Fairmont for several hours Monday morning due to whiteout conditions and numerous accidents causing roads to be blocked. In addition, several web cams across this region showed these widespread whiteout conditions. The blizzard warning was also extended through the afternoon for Redwood, Brown, Watonwan and Martin Counties due to continued strong winds, whiteout conditions, and closed county roads and highways.
The following are the highest wind gusts across the region.
St. James Airport, 52 mph.
Morris Airport, 52 mph.
Appleton Airport, 51 mph.
Benson Airport, 51 mph.
Montevideo Airport, 49 mph.
Redwood Falls Airport, 49 mph.
Olivia Airport, 48 mph.
Madison Airport, 47 mph.
New Ulm Airport, 47 mph.
Fairmont Airport, 47 mph.

Blizzard in SIBLEY, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 19:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 09:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 30 to 35 mph, with frequent gusts up to 40 mph at times, created widespread blowing snow and blizzard conditions in the far west part of the county.

Blizzard in WASECA, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 22:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 09:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 30 to 35 mph, with frequent gusts up to 40 mph at times, created widespread blowing snow and blizzard conditions.

Blizzard in FARIBAULT, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 23:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 12:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph, with frequent gusts up to 45 mph at times, created widespread blowing snow and blizzard conditions. Several county roads were snow covered and were not advised to travel on based on Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Blizzard in FREEBORN, MINNESOTA
From 08-FEB-16 00:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 09:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 30 to 35 mph, with frequent gusts up to 40 mph at times, created widespread blowing snow and blizzard conditions.

Winter Storm in KANDIYOHI, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 15:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 12:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph at times, created blowing and drifting snow. County officials and local web cams only indicated isolated whiteout conditions, and not widespread during this winter storm across the county. Area roads were open, but web cams did show drifting snow over the roads.

Blizzard in MARTIN, MINNESOTA
From 08-FEB-16 00:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph at times, created widespread blowing snow and blizzard conditions that lasted through Monday afternoon. Several county roads were snow covered and were not advised to travel on based on Minnesota Department of Transportation. Plus, I-90 was closed for several hours west of Fairmont due to accidents, zero visibility and impassable roads.

Winter Storm in SWIFT, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 15:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 12:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph at times, created blowing and drifting snow. County officials and local web cams only indicated isolated whiteout conditions, and not widespread during this winter storm across the county. Area roads were open, but web cams did show drifting snow over the roads. The worst conditions occurred Monday morning before 12 PM CST due to isolated snow showers that dropped visibility to one half mile at times.

Winter Storm in DOUGLAS, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 14:30:00 to 08-FEB-16 07:30:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph at times, created blowing and drifting snow. County officials and local web cams only indicated isolated whiteout conditions, and not widespread during this winter storm across the county. Area roads were open, but web cams did show drifting snow over the roads.

Winter Storm in LAC QUI PARLE, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 18:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 12:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph at times, created blowing and drifting snow. County officials and local web cams only indicated isolated whiteout conditions, and not widespread during this winter storm across the county. Area roads were open, but web cams did show drifting snow over the roads. The worst conditions occurred Monday morning before 12 PM CST due to isolated snow showers that dropped visibility to one half mile at times.

Winter Storm in POPE, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 14:30:00 to 08-FEB-16 07:30:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph at times, created blowing and drifting snow. County officials and local web cams only indicated isolated whiteout conditions, and not widespread during this winter storm across the county. Area roads were open, but web cams did show drifting snow over the roads.

Winter Storm in CHIPPEWA, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 18:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 12:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph at times, created blowing and drifting snow. County officials and local web cams only indicated isolated whiteout conditions, and not widespread during this winter storm across the county. Area roads were open, but web cams did show drifting snow over the roads. The worst conditions occurred Monday morning before 12 PM CST due to isolated snow showers that dropped visibility to one half mile at times.

Winter Storm in MCLEOD, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 18:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 03:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 30 to 35 mph, with gusts up to 40 mph at times, created blowing and drifting snow. County officials and local web cams only indicated isolated whiteout conditions, and mainly in the far southwest corner.  Area roads were open, but web cams did show drifting snow over the roads.

Blizzard in BLUE EARTH, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 20:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph, wtih gusts up to 50 mph at times, created widespread blowing snow and blizzard conditions that lasted through Monday afternoon. Several county roads were snow covered and not advised to travel on. Highway 60 along the Blue Earth, Watonwan county line was closed for several hours Monday due to accidents, zero visibility and impassable roads. The worst conditions occurred in the western part of the county where wind gusts were higher.

Winter Storm in STEVENS, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 15:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 12:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph at times, created blowing and drifting snow. County officials and local web cams only indicated isolated whiteout conditions, and not widespread during this winter storm across the county. Area roads were open, but web cams did show drifting snow over the roads. The worst conditions occurred early Monday morning before 3 AM CST due to isolated snow showers that dropped visibility to one half mile at times.

Blizzard in BROWN, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 20:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 12:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph at times, created widespread blowing snow and blizzard conditions that lasted through Monday morning. Highway 14, in the western part of the county was closed for several hours Monday due to accidents, zero visibility and impassable roads.

Blizzard in NICOLLET, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 20:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 12:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph at times, created widespread blowing snow and blizzard conditions that lasted through Monday morning. Several county roads were snow covered and were not advised to travel on based on Minnesota Department of Transportation. The worst conditions occurred in the western part of the county where wind gusts were higher.

Blizzard in REDWOOD, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 18:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph at times, created widespread blowing snow and blizzard conditions that lasted through Monday afternoon. Several county roads were snow covered and were not advised to travel on based on Minnesota Department of Transportation. The worst conditions occurred in the southwestern part of the county where wind gusts were higher.

Blizzard in RENVILLE, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 18:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph at times, created widespread blowing snow and blizzard conditions that lasted through Monday afternoon. Several county roads were snow covered and were not advised to travel on based on Minnesota Department of Transportation. The worst conditions occurred in the southern part of the county.

Blizzard in LE SUEUR, MINNESOTA
From 07-FEB-16 20:00:00 to 08-FEB-16 06:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

The combination of sustained winds of 30 to 35 mph, with frequent gusts up to 40 mph at times, created widespread blowing snow and blizzard conditions in the far southwest part of the county.