A strong winter storm brought heavy snow, strong winds, freezing rain, sleet, and blizzard conditions to portions of the region on Monday March 31st, 2014.
The winter storm produced whiteout conditions across large areas of North Dakota, South Dakota, and northeast Wyoming on the final day of March 2014.
Monday morning, visibility was reduced to 10 feet in parts of North Dakota. Drifts of 5-6 feet were observed in Roseau, MN. Winds gusted to 64 mph at the Rapid City, SD airport.
Whiteout conditions prompted a shut down of Interstate 29 from Brookings, SD to the Canadian border, and Interstate 94 from Fargo to Bismarck, ND.
Below are some storm reports from the Grand Forks National Weather Service.
...MAXIMUM WIND GUSTS... LOCATION SPEED TIME/DATE VALLEY CITY AIRPORT 52 MPH 0835 PM 03/31 EMERADO 52 MPH 0840 PM 03/31 FARGO-HECTOR INTL ARPT 51 MPH 0946 PM 03/31 COOPERSTOWN ARPT 51 MPH 0735 PM 03/31 GRAND FORKS AFB 51 MPH 0742 PM 03/31 HENDRUM 4 ENE 50 MPH 0845 PM 03/31 GWINNER ARPT 49 MPH 0915 PM 03/31 BUFFALO 49 MPH 1110 PM 03/31 GRAFTON AIRPORT 49 MPH 0235 PM 03/31 CANDO AIRPORT 48 MPH 0235 PM 03/31 HAMPDEN 47 MPH 1158 PM 03/31 WAHPETON 5 W 47 MPH 1109 PM 03/31 GRAND FORKS INTL ARPT 46 MPH 0113 AM 04/01 BROOKS 3 S 46 MPH 1125 PM 03/31 LANGDON AIRPORT 46 MPH 1135 AM 03/31 MOORHEAD AIRPORT 46 MPH 0401 AM 04/01 DEVILS LAKE AIRPORT 46 MPH 0555 PM 03/31 GRAND FORKS 5 NNW 46 MPH 1005 PM 03/31 EAST GRAND FORKS 5 SE 45 MPH 0105 AM 04/01 DILWORTH 45 MPH 0630 PM 03/31 BUXTON-MAYVILLE BRIDGE 45 MPH 0402 PM 03/31 BAGLEY 44 MPH 0449 AM 04/01 CAVALIER AIRPORT 44 MPH 0315 PM 03/31 WALHALLA AIRPORT 43 MPH 0355 PM 03/31 SAINT VINCENT 43 MPH 0410 PM 03/31 GATZKE 3 ENE 42 MPH 1125 PM 03/31 SHEYENNE NATL GRASSLANDS 42 MPH 1249 AM 04/01 FERGUS FALLS AIRPORT 41 MPH 0913 AM 04/01 PARK RAPIDS AIRPORT 41 MPH 0343 AM 04/01 DONALDSON 41 MPH 0935 PM 03/31 WARROAD AIRPORT 40 MPH 0734 PM 03/31 ELBOW LAKE AIRPORT 40 MPH 0758 AM 04/01 MAHNOMEN 3 SE 40 MPH 0730 PM 03/31 THIEF RIVER FALLS ARPT 39 MPH 1015 PM 03/31 WAHPETON AIRPORT 39 MPH 0855 PM 03/31 BINFORD 38 MPH 0333 PM 03/31 DETROIT LAKES AIRPORT 38 MPH 0935 AM 04/01 DETROIT LAKES DNR 38 MPH 0820 AM 04/01 WADENA AIRPORT 38 MPH 0515 AM 04/01 FOSSTON AIRPORT 38 MPH 0615 AM 04/01 CROOKSTON AIRPORT 38 MPH 0635 PM 03/31 FARGO (RED RIVER BRIDGE) 38 MPH 0230 AM 04/01 ...LOWEST VISIBILITY REPORTS... FERGUS FALLS AIRPORT 0.25 MI FLAG ISLAND 0.25 MI FARGO-HECTOR INTL ARPT 0.25 MI ELBOW LAKE AIRPORT 0.25 MI WASKISH AIRPORT 0.25 MI FARGO (RED RIVER BRIDGE) 0.22 MI LAKE PARK 0.19 MI GATZKE 3 ENE 0.16 MI BADGER 0.16 MI TENNEY 2 W 0.13 MI BROOKS 3 S 0.10 MI EAST GRAND FORKS 5 SE 0.08 MI VERNDALE 2 WNW 0.05 MI EMERADO 0.05 MI HENDRUM 4 ENE 0.03 MI SAINT VINCENT 0.03 MI BUFFALO 0.03 MI OTTERTAIL 3 WSW 0.00 MI SHOOKS 0.00 MI WARROAD AIRPORT 0.00 MI THIEF RIVER FALLS ARPT 0.00 MI HALLOCK AIRPORT 0.00 MI WASKISH 4 NW 0.00 MI GWINNER ARPT 0.00 MI WAHPETON AIRPORT 0.00 MI MOORHEAD AIRPORT 0.00 MI DONALDSON 0.00 MI WAHPETON 5 W 0.00 MI CHAMBERLAIN 0.00 MI GRAND FORKS INTL ARPT 0.00 MI DILWORTH 0.00 MI ROTHSAY 0.00 MI ROOSEVELT 2 ESE 0.00 MI ROSEAU AIRPORT 0.00 MI FOSSTON AIRPORT 0.00 MI DEVILS LAKE AIRPORT 0.00 MI CROOKSTON AIRPORT 0.00 MI VALLEY CITY AIRPORT 0.00 MI GRAFTON AIRPORT 0.00 MI COOPERSTOWN ARPT 0.00 MI CAVALIER AIRPORT 0.00 MI GRAND FORKS AFB 0.00 MI OBSERVATIONS ARE COLLECTED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES WITH VARYING EQUIPMENT AND EXPOSURE. NOT ALL DATA LISTED ARE CONSIDERED OFFICIAL. ...SNOWFALL TOTALS... HEAVY SNOW REPORTS LOCATION SNOW FALL (INCHES) MINNESOTA ...KITTSON COUNTY... LANCASTER 13.6 M LANCASTER 13.6 M ...LAKE OF THE WOODS COUNTY... 20 S WARROAD 13.0 E BAUDETTE 18.0 E ...MARSHALL COUNTY... 5 NNE MARCH 6.9 M ...PENNINGTON COUNTY... THIEF RIVER FALLS 18.0 E ...RED LAKE COUNTY... RED LAKE FALLS 8.0 E LOCATION SNOW FALL (INCHES) NORTH DAKOTA ...BARNES COUNTY... 2 NW VALLEY CITY 12.0 E ...GRAND FORKS COUNTY... 1 WSW GRAND FORKS 12.0 E ...NELSON COUNTY... MICHIGAN 12.0 E SNOW REPORTS LOCATION SNOW FALL (INCHES) MINNESOTA ...BECKER COUNTY... 5 NW CORMORANT 2.1 M TWO INLETS 2.2 E 5 NW HEIGHT OF LAND LAK 2.3 M ...BELTRAMI COUNTY... BEMIDJI 4.5 E 1 S LAVINIA 5.0 E ...CLAY COUNTY... MOORHEAD 2.5 M ...CLEARWATER COUNTY... LAKE ITASCA 4.0 E ...HUBBARD COUNTY... 8 S BEMIDJI 4.0 E ...MARSHALL COUNTY... ARGYLE 15.5 E ...OTTER TAIL COUNTY... 5 W DUNVILLA 1.5 M 2 NW BIG MCDONALD LAKE 2.5 M 2 S BATTLE LAKE 3.0 E 2 W DEER CREEK 3.5 M ...ROSEAU COUNTY... WARROAD 11.0 M GREENBUSH 12.8 M 3 NW ROSEAU 17.2 M 3 W WARROAD 17.8 M ...WADENA COUNTY... 3 S WADENA 2.0 E SEBEKA 3.5 M ...WILKIN COUNTY... 2 E BRECKENRIDGE 1.7 M ROTHSAY 3.0 E LOCATION SNOW FALL (INCHES) NORTH DAKOTA ...BARNES COUNTY... VALLEY CITY 14.5 E ...BENSON COUNTY... ESMOND 2.2 M ...CASS COUNTY... 3 SSE NORTH RIVER 2.0 E 3 SSE NORTH RIVER 2.0 E 1 WNW PRAIRIE ROSE 3.0 E 5 SW CASSELTON 3.1 M FARGO 3.5 E FARGO 3.6 M ...GRAND FORKS COUNTY... GRAND FORKS 12.0 E ...PEMBINA COUNTY... 12 NW CAVALIER 4.0 E 3 WNW BACKOO 4.0 E PEMBINA 5.0 E ...RAMSEY COUNTY... STARKWEATHER 3.0 E 6 SE PENN 5.0 E DEVILS LAKE 10.0 E ...RANSOM COUNTY... MCLEOD 4.0 E ...RICHLAND COUNTY... ABERCROMBIE 2.5 E LIDGERWOOD 2.5 M HANKINSON 3.0 E ...SARGENT COUNTY... FORMAN 3.0 E HAVANA 4.5 M ...WALSH COUNTY... 4 S HOOPLE 12.5 E 5 E LANKIN 19.1 M GRAFTON 20.0 E
Last modified: May 12, 2014
by Brandon Fudali, Climatology Volunteer
For more information contact: [email protected]