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It's chilly here too

OH NO!
OTOH....

Early snowstorm slams west N.D.
By Blake Nicholson, Associated Press
Published Thursday, October 06, 2005

BISMARCK – One of the earliest major snowstorms to hit North Dakota in more than a century has shut down highways, downed trees and knocked out power to thousands.

National Guard soldiers were called out to rescue stranded motorists in the southwestern part of the state.
Guard spokesman Rob Keller said 10 soldiers with heavy equipment started moving west from Bismarck on Interstate 94 on Wednesday afternoon. The effort also involved the state Transportation Department and the Highway Patrol, and included highways that branched off the interstate and also U.S. Highways 2, 52, and 83 in the north central part of the state.
Equipment included snow plows, buses, 2.5-ton trucks and bulldozers, along with a piece of Montana-Dakota Utilities equipment that runs on tank-like tracks.

By nightfall, the operation was complete and hundreds of motorists and the occupants of three buses had been rescued, said Rick Robinson, a planning and operations specialist with the state Department of Emergency Services.
“Between Richardton and Dickinson there were over 100 vehicles with people in them,” he said. The distance between the two cities is only 23 miles.

No injuries were reported. Robinson said shelters were set up at the Dickinson State University student union and the Minot City Auditorium.
“I can’t recall in the immediate past where we’ve had to go out and work an interstate to help stranded motorists,” Keller said.
“Public safety is our primary concern,” Gov. John Hoeven said.

The storm that moved in from the Rockies overnight Wednesday dropped up to 2 feet of snow in parts of western and central North Dakota, and winds up to 50 mph created blizzard conditions in some areas.
“It is, on our records, probably one of the earliest ones, as far as our recorded history goes, in 126, 130 years,” said Sam Walker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Bismarck.

No snow fell in Fargo-Moorhead on Tuesday night, but thunderstorms dumped 1.76 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service in Grand Forks.
The earliest snowfall in Fargo-Moorhead was recorded Sept. 25, 1912, when 2 inches fell. A trace amount of snowfall was recorded as early as Sept. 14 in 1956.

In Dickinson, snowplows led emergency vehicles that were used to deliver fuel to a nursing home and to the Police Department to run generators during a power outage, Police Lt. Dave Wallace said.
About 155 miles of Interstate 94 from Mandan to the Montana border was closed to traffic Wednesday morning because of the heavy, wet snow and strong winds that snapped trees and power lines, canceled classes and left vehicles in the ditch.
“It’s unreal. This is way too early,” said Beulah City Auditor Linda Weidrich, who reported downed trees in the Mercer County town. “To the north of City Hall, (the trees) are laying up on roofs. One here at the corner of Main Street, it’s split all the way down to the ground.”

In Dickinson, an estimated 13 inches of snow had fallen by noon, forcing the Police Department, Stark County Sheriff’s Office and Highway Patrol to pull their vehicles off the road.
City streets were blocked by trees that blew down or snapped off. Wallace said some parked cars were hit by trees, but there were no reports of injuries.
Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. reported thousands of people without power between Miles City, Mont., and Bismarck.
“The entire town of Miles City was out – close to 3,000 customers,” spokesman Dan Sharp said. “Most of Dickinson has been out since last night.

By early Wednesday night, power had been restored to half of the customers in Miles City and most of Dickinson, but “we still have a lot of customers between Dickinson and Glendive (Mont.) in smaller communities that have outages,” Sharp said.
“We’ll work through the night,” he said. “It will be into tomorrow before we have everyone back in service.”
Sharp said leaves and branches were the main problem for the power company.

Minot reported wind gusts of nearly 50 mph and as many as 5,000 people without power. The Minot Air Force Base required only essential personnel to report for duty.
“The base is having a snow day,” said Maj. Dani Johnson, a base spokeswoman. She said the strong winds ripped a window from her house.

Xcel Energy crews from Fargo, Grand Forks and cities in South Dakota and northwestern Minnesota were sent to Minot to help local workers restore power, spokeswoman Bonnie Lund said. More than 3,500 customers remained without service Wednesday night, as conditions worsened throughout the day. Lund said crews from other cities were having a difficult time traveling to Minot.
Parts of U.S. 83 were closed north of Bismarck, and U.S. 2 was closed to westbound traffic at Devils Lake. A blizzard warning was issued for the Devils Lake region through this morning. The Highway Patrol said no travel was advised in more than a dozen counties in the west and north central parts of the state.
“It’s really treacherous – heavy, deep snow. Visibility is just really poor. It’s so heavy that vehicles just can’t push through it,” Highway Patrol Capt. Mark Bethke said.
Schools were closed in the north central and western parts of the state, including Minot State and Dickinson State universities.

Walker said the storm was expected to move out Wednesday night, and warmer weather in the coming days would melt the snow.
The state had 90 degree temperatures just a few days before the storm. Bismarck reported 92 degrees Oct. 1.
Fargo-Moorhead season forecasts call for average temperature of 11.1 degrees and snowfall of 40 inches this winter, according to the weather service in Grand Forks.
The Fargo-Moorhead metro area is expected to be partly cloudy and dry through Saturday night, with a high temperature of 57 on Saturday. Today’s forecast calls for a high of 39 and a low of 24, with wind gusts up to 45 mph.

I have a brother in Fargo, He says "There's nothing between us and the north pole but a snowfence...and it's down."