Regional radar animation from overnight on January 5-6, 2026, showing freezing rain and rain intensifying over southern and eastern Minnesota. Courtesy of College of DuPage
A narrow but surprisingly intense area of freezing rain and rain made an overnight mess of things across parts of southern Minnesota from late on Monday January 5th into early on Tuesday January 6th, 2026.
The rain formed ahead of a weak and poorly-defined "clipper" system that originated in southwestern Canada before tracking through the northern Plains and into the Great Lakes region. Temperatures hovered either side of freezing as a very thin ribbon of atmospheric lift intersected a surge of enhanced moisture. The result was a long, narrow, and rather slow-moving area of moderate freezing rain and rain centered near the Twin Cities.
The rain fell on areas that had measurable snow cover. Where temperatures remained at or below freezing, the rain coated all untreated surfaces with a thickening glaze leading to dangerously slippery conditions. Where temperatures climbed above freezing, the rain matted the snow and pooled into depressions leaving things wet and slippery. Streets in communities with snow-blocked sewer drains had large puddles and shallow standing water.
Measurable rain fell over about a third of the state, mostly in southern and eastern Minnesota, with most areas receiving under a tenth of an inch of precipitation. Some of the heaviest rain fell in and near the Twin Cities, where totals of a half-inch or more were common. At the Twin Cities International Airport, the daily total of 0.69 inches was a record for January 6th, breaking the old record of 0.40 inches in 1967. That event resulted from snow, as did each of the other top-10 precipitation amounts for the date. So this precipitation was not only heavy enough to set a record, but unique for being an all-rain event.
Posted January 6, 2026
KAB