North Dakota, 2015

Heavy Snow in North Dakota, January 2 to 3, 2015

January 2 to 3, 2015 · NWS FGF · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

Surface low pressure tracked from eastern Montana on the evening of January 2nd, into northeast South Dakota by the morning of January 3rd. This spread a swath of heavier snow from northeast North Dakota into northwest Minnesota, where four to ten inches of snow were reported north of the U.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 9 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
9

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.

Surface low pressure tracked from eastern Montana on the evening of January 2nd, into northeast South Dakota by the morning of January 3rd. This spread a swath of heavier snow from northeast North Dakota into northwest Minnesota, where four to ten inches of snow were reported north of the U. S. Highway 2 corridor. This was one of the first events of the winter season, which had been relatively quiet up to this point.

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 Jan 2, 12:35 PM CST, 2 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 2, 12:35 PM CST, 2 hours 25 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 2, 12:50 PM CST, 2 hours 10 minutes before
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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

9 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Towner

When
January 2, 3:00 PM CST to January 3, 9:35 AM CST
Where
Towner forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
48.686, -99.246 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Cavalier

When
January 2, 3:00 PM CST to January 3, 9:35 AM CST
Where
Cavalier forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
48.772, -98.465 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Benson

When
January 2, 3:00 PM CST to January 3, 9:35 AM CST
Where
Benson forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
48.069, -99.366 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ramsey

When
January 2, 3:00 PM CST to January 3, 9:35 AM CST
Where
Ramsey forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
48.269, -98.720 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Western Walsh

When
January 2, 3:00 PM CST to January 3, 9:35 AM CST
Where
Western Walsh forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
48.370, -97.721 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Nelson

When
January 2, 3:00 PM CST to January 3, 9:35 AM CST
Where
Nelson forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
47.922, -98.192 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Pembina

When
January 2, 3:00 PM CST to January 3, 9:35 AM CST
Where
Pembina forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
48.768, -97.552 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Eastern Walsh

When
January 2, 3:00 PM CST to January 3, 9:35 AM CST
Where
Eastern Walsh forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
48.370, -97.721 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Grand Forks

When
January 2, 3:00 PM CST to January 3, 9:35 AM CST
Where
Grand Forks forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
47.922, -97.457 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Dakota in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, January 2015

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 555844, 555845, 555846, 555847, 555848, 555849, 555851, 555852, 555853.