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The Economic Costs of Disruption from a
Widespread Snowstorm in  Minnesota

The purpose of this study was to simulate the economic losses of economic activity that would accompany a shutdown of activities in Minnesota, due to a snowstorm. The impact numbers are presented below and a detailed description of DRI’s methodology is provided in the Appendix.


Economic Impact of a One Day Shutdown in Minnesota

Wages & Salaries

Economic Impact


($ millions)

Direct 28.28
Derived 37.9
Total 66.18
State & Local Taxes  
Direct 3.51
Derived 4.7
Total 8.21
Federal Taxes  
Direct 7.27
Derived 9.74
Total 17.01
Retail Sales  
Direct 13.04
Derived 14.04
Total 27.08


Direct Impact: The direct impact represents all of the income lost on the day of the storm, which was not recouped after the
state returned to normal operations.

Derived Impact: The derived impact represents all of the sectors of the economy that would have achieved economic benefit
from income that was lost due to a snowstorm. The derived impact does not include the direct impact.

It should be noted that given the size of the state and contemporary measures for dealing with snow removal, it is unlikely that a
snowstorm would completely shut down the entire state. The statistics in this report, however, provide an order of magnitude
associated with significant statewide disruption due to a major snowstorm should remedial actions not be undertaken.


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