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March 9-10 Blizzard in North Dakota
Author: NWS - Grand Forks, ND
Published: 2009-03-11 13:59:23
Updated: 2009-03-23 01:31:35
Blizzard and Winter Storm Details March 9-10
The blizzard that struck the region yesterday is winding down, and conditions will improve today. It will be bitterly cold though with dangerous wind chills from 25 to 40 below for all of eastern North Dakota and west Central Minnesota through noon. Plentiful sunshine and decreasing winds will make it feel a bit better this afternoon, although the mercury will hover near zero for most areas. A warming trend is on the horizon though for later this week into the weekend, and the mercury is expected to climb above freezing. These warmer temperatures that are expected into next week will likely begin to melt the current snowpack.
Below is a summary of the snow totals from March 9-10 along with peak wind gusts.
HEAVY SNOW REPORTS
LOCATION SNOW FALL TIME/DATE
(INCHES) OF OBSERVATION LAT LON
MINNESOTA
...BELTRAMI COUNTY...
WASKISH 7.0 E 955 AM 03/10 48.16N 94.51W
THORHULT 12.0 E 508 PM 03/10 48.23N 95.25W
SNOW REPORTS
LOCATION SNOW FALL TIME/DATE
(INCHES) OF OBSERVATION LAT LON
MINNESOTA
...BECKER COUNTY...
DETROIT LAKES 5.0 E 330 PM 03/10 46.81N 95.84W
...BELTRAMI COUNTY...
BEMIDJI 5.5 E 940 AM 03/10 47.48N 94.88W
5 NE BEMIDJI 10.0 E 800 PM 03/10 47.53N 94.80W
BEMIDJI 12.0 E 800 PM 03/10 47.48N 94.88W
...CLAY COUNTY...
MOORHEAD 10.1 M 1045 PM 03/10 46.86N 96.76W
...LAKE OF THE WOODS COUNTY...
BAUDETTE 6.0 E 220 PM 03/10 48.71N 94.59W
...MARSHALL COUNTY...
VIKING 2.0 E 950 AM 03/10 48.22N 96.41W
...NORMAN COUNTY...
TWIN VALLEY 3.6 E 1145 AM 03/10 47.26N 96.26W
...OTTER TAIL COUNTY...
PELICAN RAPIDS 3.0 E 305 PM 03/10 46.57N 96.09W
OTTERTAIL 4.0 E 332 PM 03/10 46.43N 95.56W
NEW YORK MILLS 5.0 E 310 PM 03/10 46.52N 95.37W
...RED LAKE COUNTY...
RED LAKE FALLS 13.5 E 835 PM 03/10 47.89N 96.27W
LOCATION SNOW FALL TIME/DATE
(INCHES) OF OBSERVATION LAT LON
NORTH DAKOTA
...BARNES COUNTY...
VALLEY CITY 10.0 E 700 PM 03/10 46.92N 98.01W
...GRAND FORKS COUNTY...
GRAND FORKS 5.0 M 700 PM 03/10 47.92N 97.07W
...TRAILL COUNTY...
3 E MAYVILLE 9.0 E 800 PM 03/10 47.50N 97.26W
Below is a graphical representation of the total snow from March 9-10.
Below is the radar representation of snowfall during the blizzard. The heaviest snow band fell from Valley City to Fargo to Bemidji where 6 to 10 inches fell.
...PEAK WINDS FOR MARCH 10 BLIZZARD...
WINDS GUSTED OVER 50 MPH AT TIMES IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY ON TUESDAY
AS BLIZZARD CONDITIONS PERSISTED FOR NEARLY 14 HOURS IN THE
SOUTHERN RED RIVER VALLEY AROUND FARGO...AND ABOUT 12 HOURS NEAR
GRAND FORKS. ALL MAJOR HIGHWAYS IN THE REGION WERE CLOSED AND MANY
ROADS BECAME DRIFTED SHUT AS PLOWS WERE PULLED FROM ZERO
VISIBILITY AT TIMES IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY.
HERE ARE SOME PRELIMINARY WIND GUSTS FROM AREA AUTOMATED SURFACE
OBSERVING SYSTEMS (ASOS). THIS LIST WILL BE ADDED TO ONCE MORE
DATA BECOMES AVAILABLE TODAY.
LOCATIONPEAK WIND (MPH)
FERGUS FALLS 51
GRAND FORKS 48
FARGO 48
CROOKSTON 48
WAHPETON 46
HALLOCK 45
DETROIT LAKES 45
THEIF RIVER FALLS 40