The winter storm system that brought heavy snow to West and Central North Dakota Wednesday February 28th (See Storm Data entries for February) through early Thursday March 1st, intensified as it moved towards and into Wisconsin later Thursday and Friday March 2nd. In addition to additional light snow accumulations (1 to 3 inches), strong northwest winds developed early Friday morning, and…
Every event with a place to put it; 16 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS BIS wrote it up.
The winter storm system that brought heavy snow to West and Central North Dakota Wednesday February 28th (See Storm Data entries for February) through early Thursday March 1st, intensified as it moved towards and into Wisconsin later Thursday and Friday March 2nd. In addition to additional light snow accumulations (1 to 3 inches), strong northwest winds developed early Friday morning, and continued into Friday evening. |Winds of 30 to 45 mph were recorded across central North Dakota for much of Friday. These winds, in combination with recent snowfall of 5 to 12 inches, created widespread areas of significant blowing and drifting snow with near zero visibilities. Conditions were much worse in the open country than they were within urban areas, as numerous rural roadways became impassable due to large snow drifts. As a result, no travel was advised for much of central North Dakota, along with several highways being closed including Interstate 94 from Bismarck to Fargo.
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 Bismarck, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 2, 3:01 AM CST, 2 hours 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 301 AM CST FRI MAR 2 2007 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT... FORECAST CONCERNS/HIGHLIGHTS IN THE SHORT TERM WILL FOCUS ON BLIZZARD CONDITIONS DEVELOPING ACROSS MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA LATER THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON...CONTINUING INTO THE EARLY EVENING. HAVE USED A BLEND OF THE LATEST GFS AND NAM MODEL SOLUTIONS AS THEY AGREE WELL WITH EACHOTHER ON MAIN FEATURES AND THE IMPORTANT DETAILS. CURRENTLY...THE MAIN STORM CENTER IS CENTERED OVER SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN...WHILE AN INVERTED TROUGH EXTENDS NORTHWEST ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS. IN RESPONSE...A LARGE AREA OF LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS IS PUSHING WEST ACROSS EASTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA AS THE TROUGH ROTATES THROUGH THE REGION. WINDS ATTM ARE 15 TO 25 MPH...BUT ENOUGH TO BLOW AND DRIFT THE RECENT SNOWFALL SOME AS THE SNOW IS VERY LIGHT IN WEIGHT. FOR TODAY...SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TO SWING ACROSS CENTRAL AND WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA THIS MORNING...GRADUALLY DISSIPATING IN AERIAL COVERAGE NORTH TO SOUTH THIS AFTERNOON AS SURFACE AND MID LEVEL DYNAMICS PUSH MORE INTO SOUTH DAKOTA. OVERALL NOT EXPECTING MUCH ACCUMULATIONS...MAYBE AT MOST A COUPLE OF INCHES SCATTERED ABOUT. THE MAIN CONCERNS TODAY ARE STRONG NORTH-NORTHWESTERLY WINDS DEVELOPING LATER THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON WITH WIDESPREAD AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...PERSISTING INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. BOTH THE GFS AND NAM MODEL SOUNDINGS INDICATING AROUND 30 KNOTS SUSTAINED WITH GUSTS APPROACHING AND IN SOME PLACES EXCEEDING 40 KTS. MOS GUIDANCE IS INDICATING THESE STRONG WINDS WILL BE PROLONGED...LASTING FROM 12Z THIS MORNING...TO AT LEAST 03Z THIS EVENING WHEN THE PRESSURE GRADIENT STARTS TO WEAKEN AND GUSTY WINDS ALOFT NO LONGER MIX DOWN TOWARDS THE SURFACE. GROUND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE THUS LIKELY TO DEVELOP AS THESE WINDS IN COMBINATION WITH RECENT SNOWFALL OF 4 TO 12 INCHES WILL CREATE VERY DANGEROUS WHITEOUT CONDITIONS...ESPECIALLY IN THE OPEN COUNTRY. IN TOWN...THE SEVERITY OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW MAY NOT REACH BLIZZARD CRITERIA...BUT THIS WILL BE VERY DECEIVING AS RURAL AREAS WILL SEE NEAR ZERO VISIBILITIES AND NUMEROUS SNOW COVERED ROADWAYS. THE LIGHTNESS IN WEIGHT OF THE RECENT SNOW WILL INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF THIS SCENARIO...WITH ALREADY SOME DECENT BLOWING AND DRIFTING OCCURRING ATTM HERE IN BISMARCK WITH WINDS ONLY 15 TO 20 MPH. HAVE THUS DECIDED TO UPGRADE THE WINTER STORM WARNING VALID TODAY TO A BLIZZARD WARNING...ALSO ADDING EMMONS...BURLEIGH...AND MCLEAN COUNTIES AND EXTENDING THE END TIME TO 03Z TONIGHT. WILL ALSO CONVERT THE SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY ACROSS THE WEST TO A BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY AS NOT EXPECTING MUCH AS FAR AS NEW SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...BUT WILL WORD IN NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS. WINDS LOOK TO BE STRONGEST IN SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA...BUT SNOW DEPTHS ARE ONLY AROUND A COUPLE OF INCHES SO THINK NEAR BLIZZARD WORDING WILL SUFFICE. ACROSS NORTHWEST ND...NOT EXPECTING WINDS TO BECOME AS STRONG AS ACROSS THE CENTRAL...SO THINK THE BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY WILL BE BETTER HERE AS WELL. IF CONDITIONS WORSEN ACROSS THE WESTERN COUNTIES...THE DAY CREW MAY NEED TO UPGRADE. THE REST OF THE SHORT TERM WILL SEE SNOW ENDING TONIGHT...WITH DRY WEATHER ANTICIPATED OVER THE WEEKEND AS UPPER LEVEL RIDGING MOVES EAST TOWARDS THE PLAINS. A CLIPPER SYSTEM SLIDES ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA OVER THE RIDGE ON SUNDAY...BUT BEST CHANCES OF PRECIP LOOK TO REMAIN NORTH INTO CANADA AT THIS TIME. TEMPERATURES WILL BE BELOW SEASONAL TODAY...WARMING TO NEAR TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE SEASONAL FOR SUNDAY AS WAA PUSHES WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE STATE. .LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT EXTENDED WEATHER PATTERN CONTINUES TO BE DOMINATED BY THE GULF OF ALASKA LOW AND H5 RIDGE OVER THE NORTHWEST US. MILD WEATHER SHOULD BE THE RESULT AS MODIFIED PACIFIC AIR PUSHES EAST THROUGH THE NORTHERN PLAINS. PREVIOUS FORECASTS HAD LIGHT SNOW ON MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT AS A WEAK TROUGH AND WARM FRONT PUSHED EAST ACROSS MONTANA AND THE DAKOTAS. ALTHOUGH THIS SCENARIO STILL LOOKS GOOD... MODELS NOW PULL LESS COLD AIR EAST OF THE WARM FRONTAL BOUNDARY IN THE DAKOTAS. THIS WILL RESULT IN A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY BUT STILL POTENTIAL FOR LIFT. WILL LEAVE SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW IN FOR NOW. BEST TIMING FOR DOWNSLOPE/MIXING WARMUP WILL BE WEDNESDAY. HIGHS MAY APPROACH 50 ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHWEST AS COLD FRONT APPROACHES. MOISTURE LIMITED SO WILL LEAVE WED DRY FOR NOW. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM CST /8 PM MST/ THIS EVENING FOR NDZ001-002-009-010-017>020-031>034-040>045. BLIZZARD WARNING UNTIL 9 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR NDZ003>005- 011>013-021>023-025-035>037-046>048-050-051. && NH/WAA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 458 AM CST FRI MAR 2 2007 NDZ001-002-009-010-017>020-031>034-040>045-031100- DIVIDE-BURKE-WILLIAMS-MOUNTRAIL-MCKENZIE-DUNN-MERCER-OLIVER- GOLDEN VALLEY-BILLINGS-STARK-MORTON-SLOPE-HETTINGER-GRANT-BOWMAN- ADAMS-SIOUX- 458 AM CST FRI MAR 2 2007 /358 AM MST FRI MAR 2 2007/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA...SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS OF 30 TO 45 MPH WILL DEVELOP LATER THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON...AND CONTINUE INTO EARLY THIS EVENING. NEAR GROUND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE LIKELY TO DEVELOP AS THESE WINDS IN COMBINATION WITH RECENT SNOWFALL OF 2 TO 7 INCHES...WILL CREATE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...ESPECIALLY IN THE OPEN COUNTRY. LOW VISIBILITIES AND SNOW DRIFTING ONTO ROADWAYS CAN BE EXPECTED. TRAVEL WILL BE HAZARDOUS. CONDITIONS WILL IMPROVE THROUGHOUT TONIGHT AS THE WINDS DIMINISH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. NDZ003>005-011>013-021>023-025-035>037-046>048-050-051-031100- RENVILLE-BOTTINEAU-ROLETTE-WARD-MCHENRY-PIERCE-MCLEAN-SHERIDAN- WELLS-FOSTER-BURLEIGH-KIDDER-STUTSMAN-EMMONS-LOGAN-LA MOURE- MCINTOSH-DICKEY- 458 AM CST FRI MAR 2 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS OF 30 TO 45 MPH WILL DEVELOP THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON...AND CONTINUE INTO EARLY THIS EVENING. GROUND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE LIKELY TO DEVELOP AS THESE WINDS IN COMBINATION WITH RECENT SNOWFALL OF 4 TO 12 INCHES...WILL CREATE AREAS OF SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...ESPECIALLY IN THE OPEN COUNTRY. VISIBILITIES NEAR ZERO AND NUMEROUS SNOW COVERED ROADWAYS CAN BE EXPECTED. TRAVEL WILL BE DANGEROUS. CONDITIONS WILL IMPROVE THROUGHOUT TONIGHT AS THE WINDS DIMINISH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. NH
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
18 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong northwest winds sustained at 35 mph with gusts in excess of 40 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less at times, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. State Highway 200A north of Washburn was closed.
Strong northwest winds sustained at 35 mph with gusts in excess of 40 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less at times, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. No travel was advised for portions of Sheridan County.
Strong northwest winds with gusts in excess of 35 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less at times, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. No travel was advised for most of Wells County.
Strong northwest winds with gusts in excess of 35 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less at times, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. No travel was advised for all of Foster County.
Strong northwest winds with gusts in excess of 40 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less at times, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. No travel was advised for most of Burleigh County, along with Interstate 94 being closed from Bismarck to Fargo.
Strong northwest winds with gusts in excess of 40 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less at times, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. No travel was advised for all of Kidder County, along with Interstate 94 being closed from Bismarck to Fargo.
Strong northwest winds with gusts in excess of 35 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less at times, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. No travel was advised for all of Stutsman County, along with Interstate 94 being closed from Bismarck to Fargo.
Strong northwest winds with gusts in excess of 40 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less at times, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. No travel was advised for all of Emmons County, along with State Highway 13 being closed from Linton and east.
Strong northwest winds with gusts up to 45 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less at times, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. No travel was advised for all of McIntosh County, along with State Highway 13 being closed from Linton and east.
Strong northwest winds with gusts in excess of 40 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less at times, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. No travel was advised for all of Logan County.
Strong northwest winds with gusts in excess of 40 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less at times, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. No travel was advised for all of La Moure County.
Strong northwest winds with gusts in excess of 40 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less at times, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. No travel was advised for all of Dickey County.
Strong northwest winds with gusts in excess of 35 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. Two (2) indirect fatalities and three (3) indirect injuries in a car accident due to icy roads near the Glenburn/Lansford area.
Strong northwest winds with gusts in excess of 35 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. No travel was advised for much of Bottineau County, along with State Highway 43 closed.
Strong northwest winds with gusts in excess of 35 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. No travel was advised for all of Rolette County, along with State Highway 43 closed.
Strong northwest winds with gusts in excess of 35 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less at times, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover.
Strong northwest winds with gusts in excess of 35 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less at times, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover.
Strong northwest winds with gusts in excess of 35 mph, reduced visibilities in blowing snow to 1/4 mile or less at times, and created treacherous road conditions with ice and snow cover. No travel was advised for most of Pierce County.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blizzard, Renville | 2007-03-02 | 16 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Indirect |
| Blizzard, Renville | 2007-03-02 | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, March 2007
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 18179, 18180, 18183, 18184, 19108, 19109, 19110, 19111, 19112, 19113, 19114, 19115, 18152, 18167, 18169, 18172, 18173, 18174.