Strong low pressure originating out of the Pacific Northwest brought heavy snow and gusty winds to parts of central and eastern North Dakota from the evening of the 25th through the early morning hours of the 27th. The heaviest snow, six to nine inches, fell across north central North Dakota and into east central North Dakota.
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.
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.
Strong low pressure originating out of the Pacific Northwest brought heavy snow and gusty winds to parts of central and eastern North Dakota from the evening of the 25th through the early morning hours of the 27th. The heaviest snow, six to nine inches, fell across north central North Dakota and into east central North Dakota. In addition to the snow, strong winds created blowing and drifting snow across much of the state.
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 Feb 25, 9:57 PM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 957 PM CST SAT FEB 25 2012 .DISCUSSION... UPDATED TO CORRECT WARNING/ADVISORY COUNTIES BELOW. BASED ON LATEST MODELS...INCLUDING SREF AND HIGH RES RUC...ADJUSTED QPF/SNOWFALL AMOUNTS DOWN A BIT ACROSS THE NORTH...AND A BIT HIGHER IN THE JAMES RIVER VALLEY. THE ONLY CHANGE TO HEADLINES WAS TO UPGRADE STUTSMAN COUNTY TO A WINTER STORM WARNING FROM PREVIOUS ADVISORY. LOOKING AT GENERAL 5 TO 8 INCH AMOUNTS ACROSS MOST OF THE WARNING AREA...AND 1 TO 5 IN THE ADVISORY AREA. AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES WILL CONTINUE OVERNIGHT...THEN AGAIN ON SUNDAY AS THE NORTH WIND CRANKS UP ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE SURFACE LOW. HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS LOOKING MORE LIKELY FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND JAMES RIVER VALLEY TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. MAIN QUESTION IS HOW FAR TO THE NORTHWEST THE HEAVY SNOW WILL EXTEND. ADDITIONAL HEADLINES MAY BE FORTHCOMING ON OVERNIGHT SHIFT FOR ROUND 2 OF WINTER WEATHER. && .AVIATION... IFR TO LIFR/VLIFR CONDITIONS IN SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL PERSIST OVERNIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING. CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO IMPROVE TO MVFR FROM WEST TO EAST LATE SUNDAY MORNING INTO SUNDAY AFTERNOON. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 3 AM CST /2 AM MST/ MONDAY FOR NDZ019>021-034>036-042-045>048-050-051. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM CST /8 PM MST/ SUNDAY FOR NDZ009-017-018-032-033-041. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 3 AM CST MONDAY FOR NDZ002>005- 010>013-022-023-025-037. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 5 PM MST SUNDAY FOR NDZ031-040-043- 044. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 9 PM CST SUNDAY FOR NDZ001. && DISCUSSION/AVIATION...KINNEY
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 1047 PM CST SAT FEB 25 2012 NDZ001>005-010>013-022-023-025-037-261200- DIVIDE-BURKE-RENVILLE-BOTTINEAU-ROLETTE-MOUNTRAIL-WARD-MCHENRY- PIERCE-SHERIDAN-WELLS-FOSTER-STUTSMAN- 1047 PM CST SAT FEB 25 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL AND EAST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAIN IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND WARNINGS AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BIS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAIN IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND WARNINGS AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BIS. ANOTHER WINTER STORM SYSTEM WILL IMPACT THE REGION TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOWFALL AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHERN NORTH DAKOTA...WITH HEAVY AMOUNTS POSSIBLE FARTHER SOUTH IN THE JAMESTOWN AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CALL IN SNOWFALL REPORTS WITH THESE UPCOMING STORMS. NDZ009-017>021-031>036-040>048-050-051-261200- WILLIAMS-MCKENZIE-DUNN-MERCER-OLIVER-MCLEAN-GOLDEN VALLEY- BILLINGS-STARK-MORTON-BURLEIGH-KIDDER-SLOPE-HETTINGER-GRANT- BOWMAN-ADAMS-SIOUX-EMMONS-LOGAN-LA MOURE-MCINTOSH-DICKEY- 1047 PM CST SAT FEB 25 2012 /947 PM MST SAT FEB 25 2012/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST...CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND ADVISORIES AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BIS .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND ADVISORIES AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BIS ANOTHER WINTER STORM SYSTEM WILL IMPACT THE REGION TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ARE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY FROM SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA THROUGH THE JAMES RIVER VALLEY. SIGNIFICANT TRAVEL HAZARDS ARE POSSIBLE. MONITOR WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BIS...NOAA WEATHER RADIO...AND LOCAL MEDIA FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CALL IN SNOWFALL REPORTS WITH THESE UPCOMING STORMS. NH/TM/RK
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
910 PM CST SAT FEB 25 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0900 PM SNOW BISMARCK 46.81N 100.78W
02/25/2012 M1.0 INCH BURLEIGH ND OFFICIAL NWS OBS
STORM TOTAL SO FAR.
&&
SWICHEPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
943 PM CST SAT FEB 25 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0941 PM SNOW HAZEN 47.29N 101.62W
02/25/2012 E1.0 INCH MERCER ND PUBLIC
RELAYED BY BROADCAST MEDIA.
&&
SWICHEPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
952 PM CST SAT FEB 25 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0951 PM SNOW HETTINGER 46.00N 102.64W
02/25/2012 M1.0 INCH ADAMS ND PUBLIC
SNOWFALL SO FAR. REPORT RELAYED BY BROADCAST MEDIA.
&&
RKThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
12 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
A snow total of six inches was reported at Lansford.
A snow total of 8.5 inches was reported four miles south of Minot.
A snow total of seven inches was reported at Harvey.
A snow total of six inches was reported at Kief.
An estimated six inches of snow fell across portions of Sheridan County.
An estimated six inches of snow fell across portions of Mountrail County.
An estimated six inches of snow fell across portions of Renville County.
An estimated six inches of snow fell across portions of Pierce County.
An estimated six inches of snow fell across portions of Rolette County.
An estimated six inches of snow fell across portions of Foster County.
An estimated six inches of snow fell across portions of Burke County.
A snow total of 6.5 inches was reported at Jamestown.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, February 2012
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: 358507, 358509, 358511, 358513, 364284, 364285, 364286, 364287, 364288, 364289, 364290, 358510.