Winter Storm in North Dakota, April 25 to 26, 2008

Name: Winter Storm in North Dakota, April 25 to 26, 2008
Start: 2008-04-25T11:00
End: 2008-04-26T11:00
Location: North Dakota

April 25 to 26, 2008 · NWS FGF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An unusual late April winter storm hit the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest Friday (25th) and Saturday (26th). A low pressure system pushed northeast across Iowa Friday into Wisconsin Saturday.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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: 1

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.

An unusual late April winter storm hit the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest Friday (25th) and Saturday (26th). A low pressure system pushed northeast across Iowa Friday into Wisconsin Saturday. The storm blanketed much of far southeastern North Dakota and North and West Central Minnesota with more than 8 inches of snow. An area near Wahpeton, ND and Fergus Falls, MN got more than 12 inches. Hector International Airport broke its April 26th (Saturday) snowfall record, where 4.8 inches beat the old record of 3.5 inches set in 1937.

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 Apr 25, 10:38 AM CST, 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 25, 10:38 AM CST, 22 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 25, 4:35 AM CST, 6 hours 25 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
535 AM CDT FRI APR 25 2008

MNZ006-009-016-017-023-024-028-031-032-040-261045-
LAKE OF THE WOODS-NORTH BELTRAMI-NORTH CLEARWATER-SOUTH BELTRAMI-
SOUTH CLEARWATER-HUBBARD-EAST BECKER-EAST OTTER TAIL-WADENA-GRANT-
535 AM CDT FRI APR 25 2008

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THIS AFTERNOON INTO EARLY
SATURDAY MORNING. STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 12 INCHES IS
EXPECTED. MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO USE EXTREME CAUTION AS ROADWAYS
WILL BE HAZARDOUS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

LIGHT SNOW WILL END EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. ADDITIONAL LOW
POP CHANCES ARE POSSIBLE LATER NEXT WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED FOR SNOWFALL REPORTS.

MNZ001-004-007-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-026>030-038-039-049-052-054-
261045-
WEST POLK-KITTSON-WEST MARSHALL-TOWNER-CAVALIER-PEMBINA-BENSON-
RAMSEY-EASTERN WALSH COUNTY-EDDY-NELSON-GRAND FORKS-GRIGGS-STEELE-
TRAILL-BARNES-CASS-RANSOM-SARGENT-WESTERN WALSH COUNTY-
535 AM CDT FRI APR 25 2008

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME AS THE SWATH OF
HEAVY SNOW WILL PASS WELL EAST OF THE REGION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

LOW POP CHANCES ARE POSSIBLE LATER NEXT WEEK WITH LIGHT RAIN
OR SNOW POSSIBLE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

MNZ002-003-005-008-013>015-022-027-029-030-NDZ053-261045-
NORMAN-CLAY-ROSEAU-EAST MARSHALL-PENNINGTON-RED LAKE-EAST POLK-
MAHNOMEN-WEST BECKER-WILKIN-WEST OTTER TAIL-RICHLAND-
535 AM CDT FRI APR 25 2008

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A SNOW ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE REGION FROM THIS AFTERNOON
INTO EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATION OF 2 TO
5 INCHES IS POSSIBLE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

ADDITIONAL LOW POP CHANCES FOR LIGHT RAIN OR SNOW ARE POSSIBLE
LATER NEXT WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED FOR SNOWFALL AMOUNTS.

PB

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Richland

When: April 25, 11:00 AM CST to April 26, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Richland forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 46.265, -96.948 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in North Dakota in 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in North Dakota, April 2008

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 96105.