Nov 07, 2008 - 04:05:20 CST
North, northwest and southwest of Bismarck, overnight snow and ice closed roads, downed power lines and closed schools.The worst of the storm didn't get to the Bismarck area right away, but by mid-afternoon Thursday the blizzard had brought wet, white flakes and high winds, reducing visibility and making the roads slick.
"It's not going to be any more fun as we get into it," National Weather Service meteorologist Sam Walker said Thursday afternoon. "It's just going to be a mess."
Walker said the storm should move out of the Bismarck area today. A blizzard warning for the area remains in effect for Bismarck until 6 a.m. today.
"We'll still have some strong winds (today) and some snow showers. But the heavy snow we're getting right now will have shifted off to the east," Walker said at about 4 p.m.
Minot had received more than 6.3 inches of snow by Thursday afternoon, and the highest amounts reported were about a foot in the New Salem and Glen Ullin area and south toward Hettinger and Lemmon, S.D.
"Undoubtedly there's some heavier snow north of that, too," Walker said.
By tonight, the storm should be out of the state, he said. The storm mostly missed northwest North Dakota, including Williston.
"They're just far enough north and west that it didn't quite get into their area," Walker said.
The storm began with strong rains falling around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday across the state, with record rainfall falling in Bismarck, Dickinson, Williston, Minot and Jamestown. Bismarck received .83 inches, breaking the old record of .66, set in 1922. Dickinson got .86, besting a 1986 record of .37; Williston got 1.51, beating the 1895 record of 1 inch; Minot received .53, beating the .32 set in 1956; and Jamestown got 1.37 inches, breaking a 1956 record of .28.
Fargo and Grand Forks also were wet, as has been the case most of the fall, Walker said. So far, this has been the wettest fall on record in Grand Forks and the second wettest on record in Fargo. However, the "fall" includes all of September, October and November, so both cities likely will end up with precipitation records, he said.
Rain turned to snow early Thursday morning in Mercer County, and by daybreak, visibility was less than a quarter of a mile. By 1 p.m., at least 4 inches of snow were on the ground, and winds, stronger than 30 mph at times, were blowing the snow around.
The state Department of Transportation issued a no-travel advisory for many parts of western North Dakota, and some roads were closed to travel. For most of the day, no travel was advised on Interstate 94 from New Salem to the Montana line and on Highway 83 from Coleharbor to Minot. At 6 p.m., I-94 was closed from Mandan to Dickinson, and Highway 83 from Minot south was closed. Local traffic was allowed from Bismarck to Washburn, but no traffic was allowed north of Washburn.
No travel was advised on Highway 41 from Turtle Lake to Velva. All highways south of state Highway 21 to the South Dakota line and from the Montana line to state Highway 49 were blocked by snow and closed to travel except Highway 85 from Bowman to the junction of state Highway 200 where no travel was advised. No travel advisories were issued later Thursday for Highway 2 from Minot to Devils Lake, I-94 from Jamestown to Mandan, and all roads from state Highway 1 west to the Montana border excluding the extreme northwest corner of the state.
The Department of Transportation planned to pull snow plows off the road toward evening for the safety of operators due to anticipation that visibility would deteriorate.
Walker advised Thursday evening that people traveling in central and western North Dakota "just wait it out."
"More than likely things will settle down," he said.
Jutta Hopkins, director of West Dakota Red Cross, said a shelter was set up at Bis-Man Transit, 3750 E. Rosser Ave., after a bus heading west was unable to go any further. Cots, blankets and food were available there for anyone stranded in the storm, including 15 people from the bus. She said the Red Cross would be providing supper and breakfast for people stranded by the storm so they wouldn't have to venture out into the cold.
St. Alexius Medical Center announced that its Senior Health Fair, scheduled for today, has been cancelled. A release from the hospital said a future date will be announced later.
By mid-afternoon, the streets of Bismarck had a coating of white and vehicles were sliding around. Bismarck Police Lt. Randy Ziegler said officers dealt with only three wrecks prior to 2:30 p.m. Thursday. But from 2:30 to 3:30, 26 wrecks were reported.
Jason Bentz, line superintendent for Mor-Gran-Sou Electric Cooperative, said crews were working to restore power to homes in Morton, Grant and Sioux counties. But as soon as they'd get it back on, it would go back off.
"It's been slow going,"he said, noting that 2½ inches of ice was hanging on the lines in some areas.
Bentz said about 15 to 20 poles were on the ground west of Selfridge and north of McIntosh, and 600 to 700 people in southern Grant County and southwestern Sioux County were out of power. Bentz recommends people in those areas run generators if they have them.
Roughrider Electric Cooperative, which covers Oliver, Mercer, Dunn, Stark, Golden Valley and Billings counties, had a few spotty outages, but they didn't seem to be caused by ice on power lines.
The forecast heading into the weekend looks "not too bad, actually," Walker said.
"We have nothing in the forecast as far as snow," he said, adding that there may be a chance of snow in the southwest corner of the state on Sunday.
No major storms are showing up on the radar in the coming days, though there may be a chance of precipitation for mid- to late next week.
"The crystal ball is very cloudy at that point," Walker said.
(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com. Reporters Brian Gehring and Sara Kincaid contributed to this report.)
Michael wrote on Nov 8, 2008 12:41 AM:
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