Heavy Snow in North Dakota, December 4, 2007

Name: Heavy Snow in North Dakota, December 4, 2007
Start: 2007-12-04T07:38
End: 2007-12-04T18:00
Location: North Dakota

December 4, 2007 · NWS FGF · 11 events in 11 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 11 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 11

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS FGF wrote it up.

On the heels of the first early December heavy snow producer (across southeast North Dakota and portions of northwest and west central Minnesota), a second heavy snow event followed roughly two days later. Six to 9.5 inches of snow fell along a corridor from northern Towner County (ND) to southern Grand Forks County (ND) to central Wadena County (MN). When combined with the snow totals from the prior early December event, many locations ended up with 15 to 20 inches of snow. This was good news for many snow related business in the area, which had not had this much early December snow for a number of years. As far as meteorological details, an area of surface low pressure tracked from eastern Montana to near Sioux Falls, SD. A fairly strong vorticity maximum was evident on water vapor imagery along the heavy snow path. The system also had a coupled upper jet structure to aid in providing strong lift. Quite a few rural schools cancelled classes or events early on Tuesday (4th) or early on Wednesday (5th).

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 4, 4:30 AM CST, 3 hours 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 4, 4:30 AM CST, 3 hours 8 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 4, 6:57 AM CST, 41 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
657 AM CST TUE DEC 4 2007

MNZ001>005-007-008-013>016-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-
024-026>030-038-039-049-052>054-051300-
WEST POLK-NORMAN-CLAY-KITTSON-ROSEAU-WEST MARSHALL-EAST MARSHALL-
PENNINGTON-RED LAKE-EAST POLK-NORTH CLEARWATER-MAHNOMEN-
SOUTH CLEARWATER-HUBBARD-WEST BECKER-EAST BECKER-WILKIN-
WEST OTTER TAIL-EAST OTTER TAIL-WADENA-GRANT-TOWNER-CAVALIER-
PEMBINA-BENSON-RAMSEY-EASTERN WALSH COUNTY-EDDY-NELSON-
GRAND FORKS-GRIGGS-STEELE-TRAILL-BARNES-CASS-RANSOM-SARGENT-
RICHLAND-WESTERN WALSH COUNTY-
657 AM CST TUE DEC 4 2007

...MORE SNOW FOR THE RED RIVER VALLEY MAINLY THIS MORNING...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A SNOW ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM TUESDAY. EXPECT A BAND OF
4 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW ROUGHLY FROM NEAR LANGDON ND TO GRAND FORKS
TO PARKERS PRAIRIE MINNESOTA FOR TODAY. MAJORITY OF THE SNOW WILL
FALL THIS MORNING. THE REST OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST
MINNESOTA CAN EXPECT ONE TO THREE INCHES OF SNOW.

LITTLE IF ANY DRIFTING OF SNOW IS FORECAST AS NORTHEAST WINDS
SHOULD BE UNDER 15 MPH TODAY AND TONIGHT. THE SNOW WILL SHIFT
SOUTHEAST INTO SOUTHERN MINNESOTA THIS AFTERNOON. THE MAJORITY OF
THE SNOW SHOULD MOVE OUT OF NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA THIS MORNING
AND OUT OF WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA BY EARLY TO MID AFTERNOON.

A WARM FRONT EXTENDED FROM LOW PRESSURE OVER NORTHEAST MONTANA
INTO WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA. THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO
ILLINOIS BY MIDNIGHT TUESDAY NIGHT WITH A COLD FRONT TRAILING
INTO NORTHEAST MONTANA. SNOW WILL FALL MAINLY NORTHEAST OF THE
WARM FRONT TODAY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

MNZ006-009-017-051300-
LAKE OF THE WOODS-NORTH BELTRAMI-SOUTH BELTRAMI-
657 AM CST TUE DEC 4 2007

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

ONE TO THREE INCHES OF SNOW IS EXPECTED TODAY. WITH THE LOW SNOW
AMOUNTS...NO ADVISORY IS ANTICIPATED FOR THIS AREA TODAY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

HOPPES

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Cavalier

When: December 4, 7:38 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Cavalier forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 48.772, -98.465 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ramsey

When: December 4, 7:38 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Ramsey forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 48.269, -98.720 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Western Walsh

When: December 4, 7:38 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Western Walsh forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 48.370, -97.721 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Nelson

When: December 4, 7:38 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Nelson forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 47.922, -98.192 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Grand Forks

When: December 4, 7:38 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Grand Forks forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 47.922, -97.457 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Steele

When: December 4, 7:38 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Steele forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 47.456, -97.725 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Traill

When: December 4, 7:38 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Traill forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 47.454, -97.162 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Towner

When: December 4, 7:38 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Towner forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 48.686, -99.246 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Pembina

When: December 4, 10:30 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Pembina forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 48.768, -97.552 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Eastern Walsh

When: December 4, 10:30 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Eastern Walsh forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 48.370, -97.721 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Cass

When: December 4, 10:30 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Cass forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 46.933, -97.248 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in North Dakota in 2007 Every state in 2007 This day in weather history Warnings in North Dakota, December 2007

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 66509, 66510, 66511, 66512, 66513, 66514, 66515, 66516, 66517, 66518, 66519.