Following some winter weather advisories and dangerous wind chills, a warming trend will arrive in North Dakota.
The southwest corner of the state remains in a winter weather advisory after some snow accumulation between one and three inches overnight. Alex Besson is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Bismarck. He says snow will taper off throughout the day, but a winter weather advisory will remain in while winds persist…
"Behind this wave of snow, we have some wind concerns which will lead to blowing snow. Because all this snow has just freshly fallen, it can be blown around pretty easily - and with sustained winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour out of the northwest, with occasional gusts up to 40, we could see some pretty significantly reduced visibilities, due to the winds blowing around all this snow."
Besson says it’s also still bitterly cold across the state, with wind chill advisories being issued virtually everywhere else. He says with sustained gusts of 20-30 miles per hour, dangerous windchills into the 30s below zero will remain a concern – until this weekend.
"We kind of see a pattern change, and will see some warmer, Pacific air start to filter in from the west. And that's going to kind of start through Saturday, from the west we might start seeing temperatures in the low 20s and high teens. However on Sunday, that's when the temperatures start to really to rise up into the low to mid 20s across most of the area, potentially in the 30s in the southwest. And right now, there's pretty good confidence in the middle of next week, so Wednesday or Thursday, we might start to see widespread temperatures right around freezing - which would be really good for a lot of the area."
Besson says it’s even possible the southwestern and western portions of the state could see temperatures in the high 30s.
He says as the cold sticks around for a little longer, be sure to dress for the conditions, travel with a winter survival kit, and keep an eye out for your neighbors.