Non-Stop Snow And Cold Have Been Hitting North Dakota - And There's More Coming
By Leah|Published February 20, 2019
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Leah
Author
Leah moved to North Dakota when she was 12 years old and has traveled from the Red River Valley to the badlands and many places in between. She loves small-town life and currently enjoys living on a small farm in the ND prairie. She's always had a passion for writing and has participated in novel writing challenges such as NaNoWriMo multiple times. Her favorite part about this job is recognizing small businesses that deserve a boost and seeing the positive affect her articles can have on their traffic, especially in rural areas that might have otherwise gone overlooked.
North Dakota is used to dealing with harsher winters than in other places. Bitter cold, chilly winds, and loads of snow isn’t too far from the norm in this state. This month, however, has been a whirlwind of near-record-breaking cold streaks, storms bad enough to shut down both major interstates, and snow galore. Don’t get your hopes up on an early spring, either, because another winter storm is currently rolling through and bringing more.
At the beginning of this month, places in North Dakota saw streaks of sub-zero temperatures for over 8 days. The year with the longest consecutive streak of sub-zero days for North Dakota was in 1936, when most towns felt over 15 days of bitter cold. Carrington, ND set the record with 37 days, over a month straight, of negative degree temps.
Along with the chill, blowing snow caused sections of both major interstates - I-94 and I-29 - and many other highways in North Dakota to close a couple weeks ago. School and business closures were also widespread and the storms just kept coming.
Don't think that after that system went through the hard part of winter is over. Winter Storm Petra is now hitting the plains and heading east towards the coast.
The NOAA says there is a high likelihood of temperatures remaining below average through February and the winter storm will bring more snow to North Dakota.
As is always the case with these conditions, check the road conditions before leaving for anywhere and bundle up - especially if there is a wind chill or low temperature advisory. Should you get stranded with your car, don't leave it, and keep an emergency kit in the back or trunk with things like blankets, water, a shovel, and heat packs. We obviously still have some winter yet to endure!
How have you been holding up through these winter storms? North Dakota winters aren’t for everyone, but they’re just part of living here – and most of us love it anyway. If you’ve just moved here and are experiencing it for the first time, here are 10 things you need to know to survive a North Dakota winter.
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