Powerful storm hits North Dakota again
Digging out!
Powerful storm hits North Dakota again
By MARVIN BAKER
EDITOR
Even though we are into the first week of spring and the sun is gaining some power, a powerful winter storm pushed through the state on Tuesday, forcing cancellations and closing several county, state and federal highways.
Abundant moisture was pushed up from the Gulf of Mexico bringing all sorts of conditions to North Dakota including heavy snow in the northwest, rain and thunder in the southeast and freezing rain that later prompted a rare ice storm warning in the southwest. Only two of North Dakota’s 53 counties, Cavalier and Pembina in the extreme northeast, were sparred from the storm.
Mountrail County was hit hard as a blizzard warning went into effect at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Initially, snow started falling about 10 a.m. and by noon schools and government agencies were dismissing for the day. By 2:30 white-out conditions prevailed across the county and by 4, U.S. Highway 83 was closed from Washburn to the Canadian border.
Early on Tuesday morning, a light, freezing mist was falling, causing slippery conditions but it wasn’t measurable precipitation. As the storm progressed late on Tuesday morning, a steady temperature of 30 degrees began falling and by 2:30, it had dropped 5 degrees. Wednesday’s overnight low was in the mid teens.
