Month: February 2019

The sun angle snow is the equivalent of the middle of October.  What that means is the sun now can easily heat up a road surface to 32 degrees or warmer on most days, even when temperatures are around zero.  With our snow not capped and easily blown around, the warmth on the roads can… Read more Blow Ice

The low temperature at the Fargo COOP site has been below zero on 28 of the past 30 days.  So no, it has not been your imagination that the cold has been persistent for a long time.  Plus, another cold front passed through the area yesterday, meaning today is the 29 of the past 31… Read more Negative

There has been a lot of talk about the possible spring flooding in many areas because of the recent surge of snowfall.  As a reminder, a vast majority of the area is either running near or just slight above average for snowfall to this point in winter.   There is no doubt that many have some… Read more Spring Flood

The overall pattern is not necessarily conducive to zero snowfall, but at the moment the pattern would suggest no big storms for the next several days or into early next week.  The one thing that is not changing in this pattern is the overall trend for colder than average temperatures.  There will certainly be changes… Read more Drier

Short range forecasts in the 7 to 10 day range are often accurate enough to allow preparations to be made before the occurrence of a change in weather.   This proactive approach leads to savings, both financially and in potential human impacts.  The benefits of proactive approaches are clear, yet become more difficult the farther into… Read more Finishing Cold

February is the driest month of the year.  A small part of that is because it is a month with only 28 days, but even if we added a couple of days, it would still be the driest.  August is the driest month of the summer and February could be considered the August of winter,… Read more The Driest Month

With the recent bought of cold air and no end in sight, many people have asked me if this will continue into the spring season.  This time of year I am asked to speak and give my opinions on long term weather trends at more events than my schedule allows me to attend.  During my… Read more Cold Spring?

Meteorological winter is from December 1 through February 28, or February 29 during leap years.  Most of North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota the average temperature so far this winter is running above normal.  In the Red River Valley, just a degree or two and in western North Dakota by 3 to 5 degrees.  Ten days… Read more Trending Colder

Cold air rarely moves into the region without some wind.  That will be the case today/tonight as another cold front moves through.  With it, some snow for at least part of the area, but pretty much everyone will deal with some wind.  That will mean some drifting and blowing snow causing some slowdowns in travel… Read more Cold Wind

A snowy winter so far?  Many would say yes, but yet, if you’re in Fargo for example, we are currently right at the average to this point in the winter.  If you want to be precise we are actually running just a smidge below the average.    Therefore, from a historical perspective this winter has not… Read more Snowy Winter?