A storm moving out of the Rockies into the Northern Plains brought widespread snowfall amounts of one to four inches across North Dakota March 17th and 18th. An isolated six inch amount was reported at Stanley, Mountrail County.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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.
A storm moving out of the Rockies into the Northern Plains brought widespread snowfall amounts of one to four inches across North Dakota March 17th and 18th. An isolated six inch amount was reported at Stanley, Mountrail County.
On the back side of the storm strong northwest winds developed over western North Dakota the afternoon of the 17th, and spread into the central and east the evening of the 17th and into the morning of the 18th. Up to three inches of new snow fell and along with loose snow on the ground across the James River Valley, coupled with winds gusting at times over 45 miles per hour, resulting in a prolonged period of blizzard conditions the morning and afternoon of the 18th.
The blizzard prompted the North Dakota Department of Transportation to issue no travel advisories over eastern North Dakota during the worst of the storm on the 18th.
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 17, 2:29 PM CST, 3 hours 31 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 329 PM CDT SUN MAR 17 2013 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT... MAIN FORECAST CONCERN IS THE WINTER STORM THROUGH MONDAY. LATEST MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE TRACK OF THE SURFACE LOW AND THE UPPER LEVEL WAVE. WILL UTILIZE A CONSENSUS BLEND OF DETERMINISTIC MODELS FOR SPECIFICS. CURRENTLY...THE SURFACE LOW IS DEPICTED OVER THEN NORTHERN BLACK HILLS. SNOW CONTINUES OVER NORTHEAST MONTANA WITH 3.8 INCHES OF SNOWFALL AT GLASGOW THROUGH NOON MDT. A VORT LOBE ROTATING THROUGH WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA IS PRODUCING INCREASING RETURNS FROM WEST CENTRAL INTO THE SOUTH CENTRAL. RADAR RETURNS ARE ALSO INCREASING ACROSS THE FAR SOUTHWEST. EXPECT A CONTINUED INCREASE IN ACTIVITY THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. FORECAST MODELS TRACK THE SURFACE LOW ACROSS WEST CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA THIS EVENING...TO BETWEEN ELLENDALE AND ABERDEEN AROUND 1 AM...AND INTO WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA BY SUNRISE MONDAY MORNING. MEANWHILE THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVES INTO WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA THIS EVENING AND ACROSS THE CENTRAL TONIGHT AND THE EAST MONDAY MORNING. TWO SIGNIFICANT SHORTWAVES TRACK THROUGH THE UPPER TROUGH AS IT DEEPENS OVER THE AREA. THE FIRST TRACKS ALONG THE INTERNATIONAL BORDER...AND THE SECOND MOVES ACROSS SOUTH DAKOTA AND LIFTS INTO FAR SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA. THE TWO MAJOR CONCERNS ARE SNOW THEN WIND. CURRENTLY...IT LOOKS LIKE THE HEAVIEST SNOW AMOUNTS SHOULD REMAIN ACROSS THE FAR NORTH...ASSOCIATED WITH THE TRACK OF THE MID AND UPPER LEVEL TROUGH...WHICH IS ALSO ALONG THE TRACK OF THE TROWAL. AND OVER THE JAMES RIVER VALLEY INTO EAST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...ASSOCIATED WITH THE SOUTHERN SHORTWAVE AND THE STRONG SURFACE LOW. AS FAR AS THE WINDS...IT STILL LOOKS LIKE THIS SYSTEM WILL PRODUCE VERY STRONG WINDS...PROGRESSING WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT. THE STRONGEST WINDS ARE STILL EXPECTED TO BE ACROSS THE SOUTH...ALONG THE TRACK OF THE STRONG PRESSURE FALL/RISE COUPLET...AND GREATEST COLD ADVECTION. WINDS WILL NOT BE AS STRONG IN THE NORTH...BUT STILL WINDY...WITH MUCH MORE LOOSE SNOW TO BLOW AROUND. STRONGEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED THIS EVENING IN THE WEST...AROUND MIDNIGHT CENTRAL...AND EAST TOWARD SUNRISE THROUGH MID MORNING. WIND SPEEDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH SHOULD BE COMMON ACROSS THE SOUTH DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE STRONGEST WINDS...WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH...AND NOT QUITE AS STRONG AS THIS FROM WILLISTON TO MINOT. FOR NOW WILL LEAVE THE HAZARDS AS IS. ALTHOUGH WE ARE NOT REACHING SNOWFALL CRITERIA...WE MUST TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE DEEP SNOWPACK AND THE RELATIVE EASE IN WHICH VISIBILITIES OVER AREAS WITH DEEP SNOW CAN DETERIORATE. ALTHOUGH WINDS SPEEDS ARE NEAR BLIZZARD WARNING CRITERIA...WITH THE QUICK MOVEMENT OF THE SYSTEM...JUST NOT SURE HOW LONG WE WILL SEE THE WORST CONDITIONS. MOST LIKELY OUT IN OPEN COUNTRY...IN THE DEEP SNOWPACK THINGS WILL GET QUITE BAD FOR A PERIOD TONIGHT. RIGHT NOW THE WARNING/ADVISORY PRETTY MUCH MIRRORS THE DEEP SNOWPACK/NO SNOWPACK. THINK THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO PROCEED...WITH NO CHANGES AND UPDATE TO A BLIZZARD WARNING IF NEEDED THIS EVENING OR OVERNIGHT...INSTEAD OF TRYING TO ANTICIPATE WHERE WE MAY NEED A BLIZZARD WARNING. CONDITIONS IMPROVE QUICKLY MONDAY AFTERNOON OVER THE CENTRAL. IN THE WEST WE WILL SEE AN INCREASE IN CLOUD BY AFTERNOON WITH ANOTHER WAVE DROPPING SOUTHEAST INTO THE AREA IN NORTHWEST FLOW. THIS WAVE IS EXPECTED TO BRING A CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW IN THE WEST AND CENTRAL MONDAY NIGHT. IT IS EXPECTED TO BE QUITE COLD OVER THE NORTHEAST UNDER CLEAR TO PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES...WITH LOWS AROUND 10 BELOW. WHILE LOWS WILL ONLY FALL INTO THE TEENS SOUTHWEST UNDER CLOUDY SKIES. .LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH NEXT SUNDAY... UPPER LEVEL TROUGH LINGERING ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS TUESDAY MORNING/AFTERNOON. CAA WILL BE ONGOING TUESDAY MORNING AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE DAKOTAS. AHEAD OF THE SURFACE HIGH...EXPECT TO SEE SOME CLOUDINESS AT LEAST 12-18Z WITH LEFTOVER BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE. GIVEN ENERGY ALOFT...OPTED TO MENTION SCT FLURRIES OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE CWA DURING THE AM HOURS. TEMPERATURES WILL STRUGGLE TO WARM MUCH DURING THE AFTERNOON TUESDAY...WITH EXPECTED HIGHS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE IN MY NORTHEAST TO MAYBE 30 FAR SOUTHWEST. CURRENT FORECAST TEMPS ARE AROUND 20 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL VALUES FOR MID MARCH. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS ACROSS THE EASTERN DAKOTAS TUESDAY NIGHT. WITH WINDS DECREASING...SKIES CLEARING...AND THANKS TO AMPLE SNOW COVER TEMPERATURES SHOULD RAPIDLY COOL TO SUB ZERO CENTRAL AND EAST. CURRENT FORECAST HAS TEENS BELOW ZERO FOR WED MORNING LOWS NORTH CENTRAL AND EAST. WOULD NOT BE SURPRISE TO SEE A 20 BELOW READING. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE LINGERS ACROSS THE EASTERN DAKOTAS/UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THROUGH MID TO LATE WEEK MAINTAINING WELL BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES. WILL START TO SEE SOME MODERATION IN TEMPERATURES MAINLY WEST LATER IN THE WORK WEEK THEN SPREADING EAST NEXT WEEKEND AS AN UPPER LEVEL WAVE AND AN ASSOCIATED FRONTAL BOUNDARY MOVE EAST INTO THE PLAINS. WILL MAINTAIN PRECIPITATION CHANCES MAINLY IN THE FORM OF SNOW ALONG THE BOUNDARY WEST ON THURSDAY SLOWLY EXPANDING EAST TO ACROSS MY CENTRAL COUNTIES FRIDAY/FRIDAY NIGHT. AT THIS TIME THE FORECAST FOR NEXT WEEKEND LOOKS UNCERTAIN WITH A VARIETY OF MODEL SOLUTIONS. THE OVERALL PATTERN DOES SUGGEST UPPER LEVEL RIDGING OVER THE WEST COAST WITH A DISORGANIZED UPPER TROUGH OVER CENTRAL NORTH AMERICA. && .AVIATION... MVFR CIGS EAST AND IFR-LIFR CIGS WEST CURRENTLY AS OF 20Z THIS AFTERNOON. LIGHT SNOW DEVELOPING WEST WILL INCREASE IN INTENSITY AND DEVELOP EAST NOW THROUGH THIS EVENING...WITH PERIODS OF IFR AND LOWER CIGS AND VISIBILITIES SPREADING EAST AS WELL. GUSTY SOUTHEAST WINDS THIS AFTERNOON...WITH STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS DEVELOPING LATE TODAY/EARLY EVENING WEST...THIS EVENING/AROUND MIDNIGHT CENTRAL...AND EAST AFTER MIDNIGHT/EARLY MONDAY MORNING WILL RESULT IN IFR AND LOWER VISIBILITIES IN BLOWING SNOW...CONTINUING STATEWIDE THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY MORNING MONDAY...FALLING SNOW COMBINED WITH THE BLOWING SNOW WILL LIKELY LOWER VISIBILITIES TO AIRPORT MINIMUMS AT TIMES WHERE HEAVIER SNOW OCCURS AND ONCE THE NORTHWEST WINDS START TO GUST 35-40KTS. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM CDT /6 PM MDT/ MONDAY FOR NDZ019-020-034-035-042-045-046. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 1 PM CDT /NOON MDT/ MONDAY FOR NDZ018-031>033-040-041-043-044. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 1 PM CDT MONDAY FOR NDZ001-002-009- 010-017. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 7 PM CDT MONDAY FOR NDZ003-004-011- 012-021-022. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 10 PM CDT MONDAY FOR NDZ005-013-023- 025-036-037-048-051. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM CDT MONDAY FOR NDZ047-050. && SHORT TERM...TWH LONG TERM...NH AVIATION...NH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 329 PM CDT SUN MAR 17 2013 NDZ001>005-009>013-017>023-025-031>037-040>048-050-051-182030- DIVIDE-BURKE-RENVILLE-BOTTINEAU-ROLETTE-WILLIAMS-MOUNTRAIL-WARD- MCHENRY-PIERCE-MCKENZIE-DUNN-MERCER-OLIVER-MCLEAN-SHERIDAN-WELLS- FOSTER-GOLDEN VALLEY-BILLINGS-STARK-MORTON-BURLEIGH-KIDDER- STUTSMAN-SLOPE-HETTINGER-GRANT-BOWMAN-ADAMS-SIOUX-EMMONS-LOGAN- LA MOURE-MCINTOSH-DICKEY- 329 PM CDT SUN MAR 17 2013 /229 PM MDT SUN MAR 17 2013/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA...SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A WINTER STORM WILL IMPACT THE NORTHERN PLAINS THROUGH THROUGH MONDAY...BRINGING ACCUMULATING SNOW AND STRONG WINDS TO ALL OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. PLEASE SEE WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BIS FOR DETAILED INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY ON MONDAY...SNOW AND WINDS WILL DIMINISH FROM WEST TO EAST AS THE WINTER STORM SYSTEM EXITS THE REGION TO THE EAST. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ACROSS WEST AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS...ANY TRAVEL HAZARDS...REDUCED VISIBILITIES...OR MIXED PRECIPITATION. PLEASE CONTACT THE BISMARCK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT 701-223-4582. TWH
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
516 PM CDT SUN MAR 17 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0514 PM SNOW MARMARTH 46.30N 103.92W
03/17/2013 M4.0 INCH SLOPE ND BROADCAST MEDIA
4 INCHES OF SNOW BETWEEN MARMARTH AND GOLVA.
&&
AJPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
602 PM CDT SUN MAR 17 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0601 PM SNOW CROSBY 48.91N 103.30W
03/17/2013 E4.0 INCH DIVIDE ND PUBLIC
SNOWFALL TOTAL SO FAR...STILL SNOWING. REPORT RELAYED
BY BROADCAST MEDIA.
&&
RKPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
654 PM CDT SUN MAR 17 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0654 PM SNOW WATFORD CITY 47.80N 103.28W
03/17/2013 E2.0 INCH MCKENZIE ND PUBLIC
SNOWFALL TOTAL SO FAR...STILL SNOWING. REPORT RELAYED
BY BROADCAST MEDIA.
&&
RKThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 blizzard, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
A storm total snowfall amount of six inches was reported at Stanley.
Fresh snowfall, combined with northwest winds gusting over 45 miles per hour, resulted in blizzard conditions during the morning and afternoon of the 18th. No travel was advised.
Fresh snowfall, combined with northwest winds gusting over 45 miles per hour, resulted in blizzard conditions during the morning and afternoon of the 18th. No travel was advised.
Fresh snowfall, combined with northwest winds gusting over 45 miles per hour, resulted in blizzard conditions during the morning and afternoon of the 18th. No travel was advised.
Fresh snowfall, combined with northwest winds gusting over 45 miles per hour, resulted in blizzard conditions during the morning and afternoon of the 18th. No travel was advised.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, March 2013
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: 438769, 438770, 438771, 438772, 438773.