Mother Nature tried to make up for the lack of a white Christmas in the Bismarck area by working to deliver a white New Year.

Bill Abeling, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Bismarck, said Saturday's storm had dumped nearly 7 inches of thick, wet snow on Bismarck by 2:30 p.m., and the weather service expected at least 10 inches of snow to have accumulated by this morning.

The snow caused a power outage in Bismarck and travel problems throughout the area. The North Dakota Department of Transportation issued no-travel advisories for Emmons, Stutsman and Barnes Counties Saturday afternoon.

"It hasn't been a good day," said North Dakota Highway Patrol Capt. Mark Bethke.

Bethke said Saturday afternoon that troopers had been checking on reports of accidents and vehicles off the road from 10 miles west of Mandan to 60 miles east of Bismarck constantly since 11 a.m.

Bethke said troopers responded to 10 or 12 crashes on Interstate 94 by 4 p.m., and more vehicles were reported in the ditch than he could count. He said no injuries were reported in the crashes.

Most of the problems on the interstate were caused by people driving too fast, Bethke said.

Department of Transportation plows couldn't work fast enough to keep the snow off the interstate because of the constant snowfall, Bethke said.

"Once the snow quits, they'll be able to clear things off,"he said.

Bismarck police had responded to 13 wrecks by 4 p.m., said Sgt. Jeff Solemsaas. He said roads in Bismarck were pretty bad until about 1 p.m. when snow plows started getting the main roads cleared off.

Keith Hunke, Bismarck assistant city administrator, said six plows started clearing Bismarck's emergency routes at 8 a.m. Saturday. By noon, all of the city's 14 plows were working, said Hunke, who also is serving in his former position as the Public Works' service operations director until a replacement is hired.

The crew planned to keep working into the evening Saturday, Hunke said. He said they would meet and regroup at midnight, and then plow drivers would be working on 12-hour shifts.

"Plows will be out around the clock until the snow quits and the roads are cleared," Hunke said.

Hunke said in a news release that crews plan to start plowing residential routes midday today and plan to work until all streets have been cleared. He requested that people watch out for snow plows and not crowd them.

Mandan Police Department dispatchers said there were several accidents in Mandan, but none were serious. Morton County Sheriff's Department dispatchers said no wrecks were reported by 4 p.m.

The Burleigh County Sheriff's Department did not have an official crash count Saturday afternoon, and all deputies were tied up investigating crashes, dispatchers said.

Abeling said Emmons County had reported the most snow by early afternoon, with about 10 inches reported around Linton and Hazelton.

Snow was falling at a rate of ¾ of an inch to 1 inch per hour in Bismarck Saturday afternoon, Abeling said. He said the hourly amount was expected to taper off to trace amounts every hour after 5 p.m., with light snow continuing through the night.

"The system will be wrapping up and moving east,"he said.

Abeling said today's temperature should be in the 20s, and it should be in the 30s early this week.

The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for western North Dakota, including western Morton County. An area south of a line from Bismarck to Harvey and Jamestown could see 14 inches of snow by today, the weather service said.

Grand Forks and areas in northeastern North Dakota could get up to 10 inches of snow by tonight, the National Weather Service said. The Fargo area was more likely to get ice and sleet along with strong winds.

"The bottom line is, travel will be hampered significantly through the area," said forecaster Dave Kellenbenz of the National Weather Service in Grand Forks. "The Fargo area's kind of going to be on the dividing line from the heavier snow to the freezing rain-sleet mix. The threat still exists for Fargo to get 3 to 5 inches of snow, but a period of sleet and ice before that."

The snow caused a power outage in northwest Bismarck Saturday morning.

MDU spokesman Dan Sharp said the outage was caused when a power line insulator, which keeps power lines from touching, broke.

"One of those insulators, probably because of the moisture, cracked," Sharp said.

Two power lines touched when the insulator cracked, and the power system is designed to shut down when that happens to minimize damage, Sharp said.

Power went out at 8:55 a.m. Saturday in an area north of Interstate 94 and west of Washington Street, Sharp said.

Bismarck Police Lt. Mike Arnold said major traffic lights at the intersections of Century Avenue and Washington Street, and Tyler Parkway and Burnt Boat Drive were out during the power failure. Arnold sent officers to monitor the intersections, but did not have them directing traffic because of fears that they could get hit by sliding vehicles.

Sharp said hundreds of customers were affected by the outage, but power was restored by 11 a.m.

(The Associated Press contributed to this story. Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)