In a state of extreme weather, a change of more than 70 degrees in a day may seem like no big deal. But a lot of North Dakotans - especially those who drive - are looking forward to it.

Bismarck's temperature plunged to 44 degrees below zero Thursday morning. By Friday afternoon, the thermometer was to swing more than 70 degrees higher as warmer Pacific air replaced Arctic air, said Len Peterson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Bismarck.

"We're going to go from a morning low (Thursday) morning of 44 below to Friday, an afternoon high of 27 to 28 degrees," he said. "Quite often in North Dakota we live by the extremes - extreme cold, extreme dry, extreme windy and extreme changes."

Tom Schmidt, who runs a towing business in Bismarck, said the waiting list for a vehicle tow or jump-start Thursday morning was about four hours. "We're still like three hours behind," he said early in the afternoon.

Schmidt said many people are holding off on a tow or jump-start, hoping their vehicle will start once it warms up.

South Dakota was expecting a similar dramatic swing in temperature, though not in the same city. The difference from Thursday's morning low in Pollock of 47 below to Friday's high in Rapid City was expected to be more than 90 degrees.

The National Weather Service said Bismarck's 44 below zero temperature shortly after 7:30 a.m. Thursday was a record for the date and one degree short of the city's all-time record low.

The Thursday morning low was 4 degrees colder than the mark set on Jan. 15, 1971, but it fell just short of Bismarck's all-time low of 45 below set in January 1916 and in February 1936.

The weather service said it had a report of 47 below zero from an observer in Garrison, and a report of a wind chill factor of 63 below at the Minot Air Force Base. Minot's actual low was 32 below.

Peterson said it is likely that many North Dakotans have seen the coldest cold snap of the winter.

"When we set a record this low, to get it again would be extremely rare," he said.

Such cold can cause frostbite quickly and can be deadly. But the weather warm-up was expected to continue through the weekend, with the forecast calling for temperatures to climb as high as 50 degrees in the southwest on Monday.

There was the possibility of freezing rain in western and central North Dakota on Friday, but Peterson said it was "a small chance."

Schmidt said the harsh winter, which also brought record snow totals to many areas of the state, has been his busiest in at least five years.

"Usually, (a busy period) is two to three days and then it's done," he said. "This year, we've been going steady since the early part of December."