Blizzard hits Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas

Hi all,

I found this on accuweather.com.

Residents in some areas of eastern Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas are without power this morning after the first snowstorm of the season dumped up to two feet of heavy, wet snow on the region. Winds of up to 50 mph caused blizzard conditions across western and central North Dakota.



Downed power lines lie across a street, but are high enough to allow traffic to pass, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2005, in Dickinson, N.D. Tree branches heavy with snow snapped throughout town to pull down power lines throughout the city. (AP Photo/The Dickinson Press, Alan Reed)


The storm forced the closure of schools and roads, and the National Guard was mobilized to assist the North Dakota Highway Patrol in the rescue of stranded motorists. There have been no reports of injuries.

The snow storm arrived just days after North Dakotans were basking in 90 degree weather. By Saturday the high temperature will climb back into the mid-60's.

I checked the weather history of Dickinson, North Dakota. On October 1, 2005 at 1:56 PM the temp. was 90.0 °F / 32.2 °C. The skies were clear.
On October 3, 2005 at 1:56 PM the temp was 54.0 °F / 12.2 °C. The skies were overcast. On October 5, 2005 at 1:56 AM the temp was 30.9 °F / -0.6 °C. It was snowing. Now today October 6, 2005, as of 8:53 AM the temp is 19 °F / -7 °C with clear skies. (I got this from weatherunderground.com )

Talk about a cold front moving in!! I'd say it crashed its way in!! By saturday, they are expecting a high of 63 °F .

Good post

Yeah that is some crazy weather. I often wonder what the winter is going to be like this year for North America.

talk about extremes from 93 degrees to 19 degrees in less than 5 days!!!! it's setting up to be a tough winter ahead.

I may not be an expert on the weather in the affected regions, but isint it kind of early for a major snow like that? I can understand high-elevations on mountains to be covered early in the season, but not this early in major areas?

The farmers almanac reported that it'll probably be a mild introduction to winter, and then it becomes especially cold.

We had a system stall over us which in turn stalled over N. Dakota. We got 8 inches of rain here in MN that night and day. Had it been 25 degrees colder our weatherman said we would have had 55 inches of snow.

We had a system stall over us which in turn stalled over N. Dakota. We got 8 inches of rain here in MN that night and day. Had it been 25 degrees colder our weatherman said we would have had 55 inches of snow.

Wow DDay!! That completely boggles my mind!! I live in the DC, MD area, and we tend to freak out if we get 1-2ft of snow. And when I say freak out, I mean whole towns and cities shut down. Of course, it might have something to do with the notorious lack of driving skill that is pretty prevalent here. (We have an auto accident increase times 20 when it rains!) The number one advice the news folks give when it snows? "STAY OFF THE ROADS!"

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I may not be an expert on the weather in the affected regions, but isint it kind of early for a major snow like that? I can understand high-elevations on mountains to be covered early in the season, but not this early in major areas?

alternateheaven,

Im not sure. Its a good question though. I guess I am used to hearing that the weather in the upper mid-states is pretty rough in the winter. I never thought about when it actually starts.

Sylvr - I lived in DC for 2 yrs and I know what you are talking about. And I agree it's a good thing they shut down the city because you are right nobody can drive.
It was a lot even for us. It started Tues early evening and it just poured and poured heavy right thru Wed afternoon meanwhile N. Dakota was getting hammered with the snow as well as northern Minnesota. Part they said was due to Hurricane Otis and then the stalled front that was only supposed to bring minimal rain and cooler temps.

GameSetMatch said: " I often wonder what the winter is going to be like this year for North America."

Many weren't living in the '50s and don't remember past storms. Also there was less population and infrastructure. It was accepted when it snowed big, no one was going anywhere and people prepared.
We have a tendency to say "worst ever in history" but there have been much worse storms, volcanoes, earthquakes; its just that there were fewer people.
I live in Colorado and a "bad" winter is just the thing we need. Our snowpack is depleted and the Rockies provide water for a large portion of the country. We need big snows and lots of them and we need them urgently. Colorado is having water disputes now. Aurora wants to tap the San Luis Valley aquifer, that the people there depend on to lift them out of poverty with wells and irrigation. Colorado Springs is strong-arming Pueblo to enlarge a reservoir so we can build a pipeline to here. Its getting ugly. That isn't even taking into consideration those downstream who depend on the water from Colorado. At least the water here comes directly from the mountains, no treated sewage........yet.

Originally posted by alternateheaven
I may not be an expert on the weather in the affected regions, but isint it kind of early for a major snow like that? I can understand high-elevations on mountains to be covered early in the season, but not this early in major areas?

I'm not entirely sure about Wyoming and the Dakotas, but in northwestern Montana and Alberta, it's not common, but it happens every few years.

We get a pattern here, usually in midwinter, where a low pressure system goes through central Alberta, early on we get mild weather from the coast, but as the system moves East, it changes to an arctic front. The temperatures here have dropped as much as 55C in less than 24 hours.

A second type of pattern in winter here is a "chinook" where the temperature has been known to rise as much as 10 degrees in 5 minutes, and New Years day can be as nice as 25C.

There's also freak snowstorms that occur in July and August. Those are rare.

No, it's not unusual. This is about the time we expect the first snowfall. Now in 1996 when we got six inches of snow in the middle of August, THAT was unusual!

I have been expecting snow for a couple of weeks now, with the night temps below freezing frequently. We have had several minor snowfalls already, but they melt right away.

We almost always have snow on the ground for Halloween.

That is pretty phenominal!!! I've never heard of that kind of drastic weather change especially this early. I remember reading a thread on Chuck Youngbrandt, and one of the things that caught my eye was "Temperature rise will begin in early June, and climb in temperature reaching peak temperatures in July and this will hold all through July, August, and September followed by sudden and drastic temperature drop in October."

Also "Little winter snow but intense cold and little heat in most American homes.In some places too much snow--in others none. Severe winds add to cold".

And lastly, "Chicago temperatures minus 40 degrees to minus 46 degrees below zero during coldest temperatures of winter. Upwards of 80% of homes in area will be without heat after a month of intense cold. Many will freeze to death. "

I know that the Dakota's and other regions listed in this thread are near chicago, but it makes you wonder because with severe weather changes such as the ones that have already happened make the prediction realistic. Also Chicago is located in the northern region of the U.S. so its not that far fetched to accept the possibility.