Freezing rain covered Bismarck in a white blanket Friday morning, but most ice pellets had melted by early afternoon.

Nearly half an inch of freezing rain fell on Bismarck on Friday morning, and some parts of southwestern North Dakota had received more than 6 inches of snow by early afternoon, National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Fors said.

He said no more precipitation is likely for central and western North Dakota until Monday, but areas east of Minot and north of Jamestown could still expect some moisture out of the storm.

Fors said the storm caused some travel problems early Friday.

The National Weather Service posted an ice storm warning for south-central North Dakota on Friday morning when freezing rain began causing problems, but later changed it to a winter weather advisory. The Transportation Department on Friday morning advised no travel in western North Dakota because of icy roads and zero visibility in some areas.

State transportation officials said an overturned semitrailer on Interstate 94 near Glen Ullin, west of Bismarck, blocked the westbound lanes for a time. They were reopened to traffic shortly after 7 a.m.

The morning's freezing rain in Bismarck caused some ice-covered tree branches to sag onto power lines, prompting several reports of sparks from tree branches, MDUspokesman Mark Hanson said. He said heavy branches caused one power outage Friday morning in a four-block area between Second and Third streets and north of Avenue A. The outage lasted from 8:50 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., he said.

Once the drizzle stopped and the temperatures crawled back up, reports of power line problems stopped coming in, Hanson said.

Gloria David, a public information officer for the city of Bismarck, said the city's Public Works sanded streets during the storm to ward off icy roads.

The icy, snowy morning caused some western and central North Dakota school administrators to decide to keep buses and students off the roads, while others delayed bus service.

Hazen school Superintendent Mike Ness said he called the season's only storm day, to date, when he went out early and found roads were slick with ice. When he could barely stand on the road pavement, he figured it wouldn't be a good idea to send school buses out.

Ness said Hazen will make up the day in late May. Beulah school officials made the same call.

Killdeer Superintendent Gary Wilz said days like Friday are always a tough call, but he decided the best option was to give school buses an additional hour to get in, since they mainly travel gravel roads that are generally less slippery than pavement.

He said conditions had settled into a white slush in the afternoon.

Washburn school business manager Janet Hanson said students came in Friday morning, and the school's second-graders were released to see the Shrine Circus performance in Bismarck.

Conditions were clearing up by late morning, and a covering of 3 to 4 inches of wet spring snow was settling and melting.

Washburn area farmer George Sheldon said the wet snow before planting is welcome.

"We'll beg, borrow and steal moisture," he said.

He figured about 4 inches of snow accumulated northeast of Washburn, on top of about .40 inches of rain Thursday.

"We've got enough moisture to get the crop in and up," Sheldon said.

Wayne Carlson, the state agriculture department's livestock program manager, said Friday's rain wouldn't make calving season any easier on ranchers.

"The biggest thing is trying to keep the newborns dry," he said. "A day like this is tough on the calves because they get wet."

As long as the temperature hovered around freezing, Carlson said the risk to calves shouldn't last long. Calves shouldn't be at risk of freezing off ears or tails as long as the temperatures stay up, he said.

The two-legged beings on farms and ranches would be affected by the rainy, muddy conditions, too, Carlson said.

"It's always miserable for the farmer working in it, too," he said. "I'm sure the farmers don't like it, but I'm sure they like the moisture. It's good for the pastures."

Officials said the flood threat to the east in Fargo had diminished.

The National Weather Service canceled a flood watch for the Red River Valley early Friday afternoon, saying additional rain through Sunday was not expected to cause overland flooding.

The weather service also lowered its Red River crest prediction for Fargo from about 30 feet next Thursday to about 26 feet - a level at which Mayor Dennis Walaker said a temporary earthen dike to protect downtown from flooding would not be necessary. Flood stage in the city is 18 feet.

Check www.bismarcktribune.com/weather for forecast information.

(Reporter Lauren Donovan and the Associated Press contributed to this report.)