GRAND FORKS: Western North Dakota saw up to a foot of snowfall during the season’s first winter weather event, while Grand Forks received about five inches. Several towns in between reported receiving six to nine inches.
According to a WDAY broadcast on Friday morning, there was 9.5 inches of snow in Forest River, 9 inches in Rugby, 8.4 inches in Luverne, and 8 inches in Leeds. The total for Fargo-Moorhead was one inch, maybe a little less.
According to several accounts, Jamestown received 3 inches, Buchanan received 7, and Ellendale received 3.5 inches in other parts of North Dakota.
Even though it’s a decent amount of snow for October, Dickinson and Minot in western North Dakota saw 12 inches of snowfall, so those totals pale in comparison.
Approximately 8.5 inches of rain fell at Devils Lake, causing a delay in school. Administrator Spencer Halvorson of Devils Lake City stated that the city was ready for the storm.
“Our streets and utilities departments can usually coordinate pretty well and make sure that we have people on the streets when and where they need to be,” Halvorson said. “We have crews that are cross-trained.” “It was obviously a little earlier than we anticipated, but that’s just part of the work.”
He stated that it was not vigorously snowing as of 8:15 a.m. I hope that continues to be the case.
In the region, a large number of schools opened late on Friday morning. A snow storm warning was in effect early on Friday morning for several counties in northeastern North Dakota and a few in extreme northwest Minnesota.
WDAY meteorologist Lydia Blume says that while some snow may still fall through the weekend, it probably won’t be much.
Blume declared, “Snow accumulation is done,” during the Friday morning program on the channel. “There are still a few flurries on Friday, Saturday, and even Sunday, but I don’t think any significant effects from any flurry action over the weekend.”
According to Blume, Grand Forks will see below-freezing temperatures for the next few days, with highs of 22 on Friday, 28 on Saturday, 26 on Sunday, 30 on Monday, and 27 on Tuesday—Halloween. The highs in Fargo will be marginally warmer, with highs of about 31 through the weekend, rising to 34 on Monday, and hovering around 31 on Tuesday.
Blume commented, “Halloween seems cold. For Halloween trick-or-treating, we’re hoping for a lot of temperatures in the upper 20s. While you’re out collecting treats to add to your bucket, consider all the layers you’re going to add. Include hats and mittens, for example.
But, things won’t get much better than that very soon. The longer prediction only calls for highs of about 32 to 35 in the northern Red River Valley and about 38 to 40 in the Fargo-Moorhead area from Wednesday through next weekend. Additionally, Blume said that there is another risk of showers and snow on Friday and Saturday of next week.
