Rain, wind, ice and snow gave way to sunshine and warming temperatures midday Saturday, but not before most North Dakotans got a big dose of wicked winter weather.

The blizzard that hit the state on Friday grounded flights, closed schools and prompted the Highway Patrol to close highways.

No serious injuries were immediately reported, but interstates in eastern North Dakota and west-central Minnesota were closed late Friday.

Highway Patrol Capt. Al Salvatore said all highways were reopened by 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

"People still need to take it easy, even though the roads have been cleared," Salvatore said. "It only takes a second to hit a snow drift and end up in a ditch."

Don Lemley, of Belgrade, Minn., was one of dozens of truckers stranded in Fargo on Saturday morning because of highway closures.

"I used to make runs in Alaska, so I know when it's time to quit. It's time to quit," he said.

Lemley said Interstate 94 from Bismarck to Valley City was a white-knuckle drive early Saturday.

"You just can't control it," he said.

The driving conditions in North Dakota were about as bad as Lemley has seen: "On a scale of one to 10, I'd give it a nine."

Wind chill readings were 20 degrees below zero early Saturday in western and central North Dakota, said meteorologist Rich Leblang at the National Weather Service in Bismarck.

"We're at about 10 above and holding steady," Leblang said early Saturday afternoon. "We should see temperatures in the 30s and the 40s in the next couple of days. That'll be a nice little respite."

Meteorologist Vince Godon, at the National Weather Service in Grand Forks, said temperatures were expected to be about 10 degrees on Sunday in the eastern part of the state.

"The winds are dying out and the sun is out," Godon said Saturday afternoon. "It's looking pretty good."

Jeff Meidinger, owner of the Dakota Performance snowmobile shop in Wishek, said he prays for extended stretches of wintry weather like the storm that hit North Dakota on Friday. But he said there can be too much of a good thing.

"Nobody wants to get out on the road and shop when the weather is like that," Meidinger said of Friday's blizzard. "I can't even give them away."