ND bracing for more wintry weather

The Associated Press

December 04, 2007

FARGO, N.D.

Eastern North Dakota was bracing for as much as 8 inches of new snow on Tuesday, after record snowfall in Grand Forks and Fargo over the weekend.

The National Weather Service posted a variety of winter weather advisories for the state. Parts of the northeast including Grand Forks could get up to 8 inches of snow, with the rest of eastern North Dakota getting up to 6 inches, forecasters said.

Sheriff's dispatchers reported up to 3 inches of snow in many counties, including Barnes, Cass, Ramsey and Traill, early Tuesday.

"It's coming down pretty good," Grand Forks meteorologist Tom Grafenauer said mid-Tuesday morning. "There's quarter- to half-mile visibility in the heavier band."

At least one school - Minto - canceled classes Tuesday. Highway speeds in the Grand Forks area were reduced to about 50 mph, according to the Highway Patrol.

Several accidents were reported in the Fargo-Moorhead area, including one in which a vehicle hit a power pole in north Moorhead and knocked power lines down across the road. Traffic had to be diverted.

Grafenauer said wind was not a problem in the east, but gusts in the southwest were expected to reach 40 mph.

Western and central North Dakota were bracing for freezing rain and up to 2 inches of snow.

"The state should have quite a range of weather," said Rich Leblang, a weather service meteorologist in Bismarck.

The weather service said the 7.4 inches of snow Saturday in Fargo topped the record 2.8 inches for the date set in 1985, and the 0.67 inches of precipitation it brought topped the 0.48-inch record set in 1909.

The 6.4 inches at the Grand Forks airport Saturday also set a record for the date in that city, breaking the previous mark of 0.7 inches in 1990, Grafenauer said.

Al Weigel, operations manager for Fargo's public works department, said street crews were busy Monday hauling piled snow away from the downtown area and residential cul-de-sacs after clearing the streets Sunday.

"We're ready to go again," he said.

Duane Ferchol, who owns a lawn equipment store in Fargo, said he already has sold 40 snowblowers this winter, surpassing last season's total sales of 32 machines.

Other businesses that sell winter equipment also were enjoying the early snowfall.

"The phone has been ringing nonstop," said Steve Moltzan, a local snowmobile retailer. "It's been a great start of the year."

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