During the afternoon of Thursday, January 14th, a weak frontal boundary bisected the eastern half of Minnesota. To the east, warm temperatures remained with the southwest part of Minnesota temperatures started to fall into the 20s. By Thursday evening, an area of low pressure developed across northeast Iowa and intensified as it moved slowly southward across eastern Iowa.
There was a prolonged period of warm air advection across most of Minnesota. The coldest temperatures remained across the far southwest part of Minnesota where the strongest winds occurred. As temperatures remained near the freezing mark over most of the forecast area during the daytime hours of Thursday/Thursday Night/Friday morning, a lot of the snow either mixed with rain, or snowfall didn't accumulate. Most of the measurable snowfall occurred Thursday night, and the snowfall in the area that had blizzard conditions ranged from 1 to 3 inches. Elsewhere, locally 3 to 5 inches fell from Lake Mille Lacs to the southern Twin Cities to the Iowa border.
Blizzard conditions were felt over mainly the far southwest part of Minnesota where both temperatures fell into the 20s, and wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph occurred. Communities from Montevideo southeast along the Minnesota River Valley, and toward the Iowa border did managed to fall into the upper 20s as snow and strong winds developed Wednesday night. This allowed for blizzard conditions for a small portion of Yellow Medicine, Redwood, Watonwan and Martin Counties. Elsewhere, even as winds gusted to 30 to 50 mph, blizzard conditions were isolated and weren't prolonged. There were numerous road closures in west central to southwest Minnesota, but MnDOT webcams and roads were mainly ice covered vs. snow covered, with whiteout conditions.

Blizzard in BROWN, MINNESOTA
From 13-JAN-21 22:00:00 to 14-JAN-21 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Department of Highways

The combination of strong winds of 30 to 50 mph, coupled with snow and temperatures falling into the upper 20s, blizzard conditions developed over the western half of Brown County. Conditions improved Thursday morning as temperatures rose above freezing.

Blizzard in WATONWAN, MINNESOTA
From 13-JAN-21 22:30:00 to 14-JAN-21 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Department of Highways

The combination of strong winds of 30 to 50 mph, coupled with snow and temperatures falling into the upper 20s, blizzard conditions developed over the far western part of Watonwan County. Conditions improved Thursday morning as temperatures rose above freezing.

Blizzard in MARTIN, MINNESOTA
From 13-JAN-21 23:00:00 to 14-JAN-21 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Department of Highways

The combination of strong winds of 30 to 50 mph, coupled with snow and temperatures falling into the upper 20s, blizzard conditions developed over the western part of Martin County. Conditions improved Thursday morning as temperatures rose above freezing.

Blizzard in REDWOOD, MINNESOTA
From 13-JAN-21 22:00:00 to 14-JAN-21 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Department of Highways

The combination of strong winds of 30 to 50 mph, coupled with snow and temperatures falling into the upper 20s, blizzard conditions developed over the southern and western parts of Redwood County. Conditions improved Thursday morning as temperatures rose above freezing.

Blizzard in YELLOW MEDICINE, MINNESOTA
From 13-JAN-21 22:00:00 to 14-JAN-21 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Department of Highways

The combination of strong winds of 30 to 50 mph, coupled with snow and temperatures falling into the upper 20s, blizzard conditions developed over portions of Yellow Medicine County. Conditions improved Thursday morning as temperatures rose above freezing.