White Knuckle Driving Expected For North Dakota

It looks like the cold and wind will hang around as we gear up for Christmas. Travel conditions will remain sketchy at best. We can expect blowing snow to hang around until Friday. The most significant impacts are for the southwest and south central parts of  North Dakota where blizzard conditions are expected. It looks like the bitter cold will continue through Saturday.

Northwest North Dakota will see blowing snow bringing drifting to roadways and reduced visibility. Wind chills will be as low as -55 and could be life threating to stranded motorists.

Conditions have improved a bit for western North Dakota, but things are still difficult in the southwest part of the state. Red/white indicates no travel advised. Travel should be restricted to emergencies only.  If you must travel, have a winter survival kit with you.  Notify a friend or family member of your travel plans.  If you get stranded stay in your vehicle. The dangerously cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 5 minutes. If you get stranded stay in your vehicle.  The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1.

I do have better news to pass along if you're not a fan of the chilly weather this week! Although usual highs for this time period are only in the lower to mid-20s, above-average temperatures are expected for the end of December and the start of the new calendar year, which will still provide a break from the harsh cold this week. One other noteworthy nugget to share is that we are currently in the driest part of the year, so it doesn't take much for precipitation amounts to finish up above average. Above average precipitation is also marginally more likely.