Winter Storm Warnings & Weather Advisories Cripple North Dakota

Winter has turned on like a light switch over most of North Dakota as of Tuesday evening.

Driving into work this evening from south Bismarck to Mandan, I encountered very slippery roads, white-out conditions, and near blizzard conditions in open country.

The National Weather Service in Bismarck has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for much of our listening area until 6 pm Wednesday, November 20th.

This includes the cities of Center, Killdeer, Steele, Tappen, Sterling, Jamestown, Hazen, Beulah, Watford City, Dickinson, Bismarck, and Mandan.

The snow totals have been increased. We could see up to 5 inches of snow in the Capital Region.

Winds will continue to be gusty up to 55 miles per hour. You can plan on widespread slippery road conditions. Travel in the cities of Bismarck, Mandan, and Lincoln is very slow. Plan on allowing yourself some extra time to get to your destination if you must travel tonight.

As I mentioned earlier, conditions in open country are even worse with near-blizzard conditions.

My son and I found that out firsthand this morning as we ventured out northeast of Bismarck to do some duck hunting. What started out as a pounding rain, soon turned into snow squalls and we had a very interesting ride back home with whiteout conditions.

Winter Storm Warnings continue for north-central North Dakota until tomorrow night at 6 pm.

This includes the cities of Minot, Rugby, Bottineau, Towner, Rollette, and Dunseith. Heavy snow is expected in this area with 6 to 12 inches of snow with locally higher totals possible.

Winds will be gusting up to 50 miles per hour, creating blizzard conditions in open country, and very slippery roads. Travel is not advised in this area, and if you must travel be sure to have a winter survival kit packed.

You can expect very cold conditions after this system passes tomorrow with high temperatures only in the 20s and lows in the teens to single digits.

Ready or not, it looks like winter is here to stay in the Peace Garden State.