Snow Way! North Dakota’s First Measurable Snow Next Week?

Snow in October

Snow in October gets people in these parts on edge...as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Even though measurable snow in October in North Dakota is certainly not uncommon. You don't have to look that far back to remember some pretty gnarly North Dakota snow events in October. The first one that comes to mind for me was back in 2019, which happened on the pheasant opener (hmmm, the pheasant opener is this weekend too), and it dropped over 30 inches of snow in some parts of the state (about 17 in Bismarck-Mandan).

(SEE ALSO:The Farmer's Almanac 2027 Winter Forecast)

The Potential for Measurable Snow

I'm hearing whispers that the first measurable snow for North Dakota could potentially happen early next week. Keep in mind, we only need a 1/10 of an inch for it to be considered our first snowfall. According to the National Weather Service, we've got a warm and windy weekend coming our way, and then a sharp cold front on Sunday, which will drop high temperatures from the 70s to 50s or even 40s on Sunday. This will lead to overnight lows flirting with freezing, and mix that with rain, and you know what happens next.

The Best Chance for Snow

Both our friends at the Bismarck Bubble and Valley News Live - TV Weatherman Hutch Johnson have mentions of snow in their long-range forecasts. Hutch Johnson mentions that the North American Model shows snow for the oil patch parts of northwest North Dakota on Monday morning. You can see his VIDEO here. You can fast-forward the video to 4:56 if you want to get to the snow portion of his forecast. Places like Williston, Crosby, and Stanley could wake up to snow Monday morning.

We should be snow-free in the Capital Region, but you can expect sharply cooler temperatures in the 50s with a couple of rain chances next week. Yep, Bismarck-Mandan should be able to avoid the flakes next week, but it's coming, that's for sure.