A strong area of low pressure moving across northern South Dakota brought heavy rain and heavy snow to west and central North Dakota April 22nd. Surface temperatures in the 40s resulted in much of the precipitation falling as rain over most locations, with only minor snow accumulations on grassy areas.
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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.
A strong area of low pressure moving across northern South Dakota brought heavy rain and heavy snow to west and central North Dakota April 22nd.
Surface temperatures in the 40s resulted in much of the precipitation falling as rain over most locations, with only minor snow accumulations on grassy areas. However, across the elevated terrain over the southwest corner of the state stronger cold air advection on the back side of the surface low coincided with a much colder thermal profile underneath the upper level trough to result in mainly snow. Storm total snowfall over Bowman County ranged from seven to twelve inches.
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 Apr 22, 8:45 AM CST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 945 AM CDT FRI APR 22 2011 .UPDATE... UPDATE MAINLY FOR WEATHER TRENDS. && .DISCUSSION... BASED ON TURNOVER TO SNOW IN THE FAR SOUTHWEST...THE SLIGHTLY COOLER NAM SOLUTION LOOKS MOST ACCURATE IN THE SHORT TERM REGARDING PRECIP TYPE. NAM ALSO VERIFYING WELL WITH QPF AMOUNTS AND PLACEMENT THROUGH MID MORNING. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO CURRENT WINTER HEADLINES AT THIS TIME...ALTHOUGH WILL BE MONITORING CLOSELY. BIGGEST CHALLENGE WILL BE DETERMINING IF ANY ADDITIONAL COUNTIES WOULD CREEP INTO WARNING CRITERIA. HEAVY BANDED SNOW DIAGNOSTICS INDICATE POTENTIAL FOR SOME PRETTY HEAVY SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS SOUTHWEST...WHERE IT WILL BE SNOWING THE LONGEST INTO THIS EVENING. GENERAL 4-8 INCH AMOUNTS STILL LOOK REASONABLE...BUT WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE ISOLD AMOUNTS APPROACHING A FOOT. && .AVIATION... SURFACE LOW PRESSURE CENTERED NEAR BUFFALO SD EXPECTED TO TRACK EAST TODAY. MOIST SOUTHEAST UP SLOPE FLOW RESULTING IN VERY LOW IFR CEILINGS AT KDIK...AND IFR CEILINGS AT KISN/KBIS/KMOT/KJMS. AS THE LOW MOVES EAST TODAY...IFR CEILINGS WILL REMAIN...AND MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW WILL FALL AT KDIK...WITH VSBYS AROUND 1/2SM IN SNOW. MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW AT KBIS/KMOT/KISN/KJMS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON WITH VSBYS 2 TO 4 MILES IN RAIN/SNOW. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLOOD WATCH THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING FOR NDZ018>020-031>037- 040>048-050-051. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 1 AM CDT /MIDNIGHT MDT/ SATURDAY FOR NDZ017-019>021-034-035-042-045. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 1 AM CDT /MIDNIGHT MDT/ SATURDAY FOR NDZ018-031>033-040-041-043-044. && AVIATION...WAA UPDATE...KINNEY
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 454 AM CDT FRI APR 22 2011 NDZ001>005-009>013-022-023-025-231000- DIVIDE-BURKE-RENVILLE-BOTTINEAU-ROLETTE-WILLIAMS-MOUNTRAIL-WARD- MCHENRY-PIERCE-SHERIDAN-WELLS-FOSTER- 454 AM CDT FRI APR 22 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA...SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED TODAY...POSSIBLY MIXING IN WITH SNOW AT TIMES. THE RAIN MAY ALSO BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES THIS AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. NDZ018-031>033-040-041-043-044-231000- DUNN-GOLDEN VALLEY-BILLINGS-STARK-SLOPE-HETTINGER-BOWMAN-ADAMS- 454 AM CDT FRI APR 22 2011 /354 AM MDT FRI APR 22 2011/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT THROUGH EARLY TONIGHT. PLEASE REFER TO WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BIS FOR FURTHER DETAILS. A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING FOR MELTING OF RECENT SNOW AND FORECAST OF HEAVY RAIN AND SNOW FRIDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED. SPOTTERS AND COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CALL THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WITH SNOWFALL TOTALS. NDZ017-019>021-034-035-042-045-231000- MCKENZIE-MERCER-OLIVER-MCLEAN-MORTON-BURLEIGH-GRANT-SIOUX- 454 AM CDT FRI APR 22 2011 /354 AM MDT FRI APR 22 2011/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THROUGH EARLY TONIGHT. PLEASE REFER TO WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BIS FOR FURTHER DETAILS. A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL COUNTIES MENTIONED ABOVE EXCEPT MCLEAN AND MCKENZIE THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING FOR MELTING OF RECENT SNOW AND FORECAST OF HEAVY RAIN AND SNOW FRIDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED. SPOTTERS AND COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CALL THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WITH SNOWFALL TOTALS. NDZ036-037-046>048-050-051-231000- KIDDER-STUTSMAN-EMMONS-LOGAN-LA MOURE-MCINTOSH-DICKEY- 454 AM CDT FRI APR 22 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING FOR MELTING OF RECENT SNOW AND FORECAST OF HEAVY RAIN AND SNOW FRIDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. KS
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
1125 AM CDT FRI APR 22 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1125 AM SNOW BOWMAN 46.18N 103.39W
04/22/2011 E3.0 INCH BOWMAN ND CO-OP OBSERVER
STILL SNOWING HEAVY.
&&
LLPThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Cooperative observers and the general public across Bowman County reported storm total snowfall amounts ranging from 7.8 inches at Bowman to 12 inches at Rhame.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, April 2011
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 297436.