Winter Weather Awareness Week: Winter Weather Headlines

It’s Winter Weather Awareness week in the state of Minnesota.

The week is designed to help Minnesotans reduce the risks of winter. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety sponsors the week every fall in collaboration with the National Weather Service (NWS) and other state, federal, and non-profit agencies.

There will be a different theme each day in the effort to provide information that can be used with school, church or civic programs.

The theme for Monday is becoming familiar with winter weather headlines.

The National Weather Service will issue a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY for the local area when 3 to 5 inches of snow is expected in a 12-hour period or in the event that any amount of freezing rain will occur.

A WINTER STORM WARNING will likely be issued when 6 inches or more of snow is expected in 12 hours, or 8 inches or more in 24 hours, and is expected to cause widespread impacts.

Also, beginning this winter, the National Weather Service (NWS) has simplified its suite of cold weather products to help improve messaging and provide better decision-making services.

The NWS is consolidating WIND CHILL WATCH, WARNING AND ADVISORY into EXTREME COLD WATCH, WARNING and COLD WEATHER ADVISORY. Also, HARD FREEZE WATCH and WARNING will be consolidated into FREEZE WATCH, or WARNING.

A COLD WEATHER ADVISORY will be issued when the wind chill, or feels-like temperature, falls to 20° to 34° below zero across Iowa and Minnesota respectively, while an EXTREME COLD WARNING will be issued when wind chills are colder than 30° below zero in Iowa and 35° below zero in Minnesota.