An intense blizzard developed during the late afternoon and evening of March 13 and continued into the daytime hours of March 14. Over a foot of snow fell over parts of the James River Valley, with lesser amounts to the north and west.
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.
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.
An intense blizzard developed during the late afternoon and evening of March 13 and continued into the daytime hours of March 14. Over a foot of snow fell over parts of the James River Valley, with lesser amounts to the north and west. The snow combined with winds gusting to 60 mph to produce a widespread whiteout. Intense drifting occurred due to the strong winds, with snow drifts reaching the roof lines of houses in portions of McIntosh and Dickey counties. Travel was halted for many days over some parts of the James River Valley, and Interstate 94 was closed in the early morning of March 14 and not opened until the afternoon of March 15th, east of Bismarck. Some rural residents were isolated for several days until road crews could plow paths. In Sioux County, road crews had to go through a pasture to access one resident, as some drifts on the main road were nine feet deep.
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 13, 6:03 PM CST, 1 hour 57 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Bismarck ND 703 PM CDT Wed Mar 13 2019 .UPDATE... Issued at 658 PM CDT Wed Mar 13 2019 Slowed the northward expansion of POPs a bit, utilizing the HREF and CONSSHORT models, which seem to have the best grasp of current radar imagery and reports. Headlines remain valid. Have had reports from both the Dickey and LaMoure county Emergency Managers of visibilities from less than 1/2 mile to a couple of city blocks within urban areas. Conditions will further deteriorate through this evening to the west and north as snow moves in and northerly winds increase. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Thursday) Issued at 242 PM CDT Wed Mar 13 2019 Developing blizzard conditions south and east late this afternoon and into the night highlight the short term. Latest satellite imagery presents a gorgeous and textbook example of a mid-latitude upper level cyclone centered near the intersection of Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas. At the surface, low pressure continues to undergo explosive cyclogenesis over western Kansas with a RAP analyzed closed contour of 972 hPa. As the entire system starts to pick up speed and move northeast, the surface low will begin to fill, the storm will become more vertically stacked and the pressure gradient will tighten over western and central North Dakota. Strong upper level Q-Vector convergence rotates catawampus into the southwest and south central after 00z Thursday. Two distinct flavors of forcing are being advertised through 12 UTC Thursday per the 12 UTC iteration of today's GFS. A large uniform area of decent mid level frontogenesis collocated with strong omega in the dendritic growth zone will be the primary mechanism for accumulations across the west and the central with the exception of the south central. Further south and east, strong frontogenesis in the lower levels will be collocated with very strong omega in the dendritic growth layer. This is the area that will extend from somewhere in Sioux county, northeast through Logan county, to Stutsman and Foster counties. These areas and east will see the best signals for banded snow and will be characterized by steeper mid level lapse rates that points further west. This band will likely see totals ranging from 8 to 14 inches with isolated pockets of greater accumulations. Elected to trend the edge of this relatively narrow band a bit further west than most guidance as western QPF associated with the more uniform synoptic forcing appears to be a bit underdone. The other complicating factor will be some mid level dry air intruding over Dickey and LaMoure counties overnight, bringing the potential for some freezing drizzle and perhaps a local minimum in snowfall totals if and where the intruding dry slot sets up and ice aloft is lost. Considerable uncertainty remains regarding the western gradient of the precipitation shield. The Bismarck/Mandan corridor has consistently been near or right on top of this gradient, thus a slight wobble on track could vastly alter snow amounts there. Still, even a few inches of snow will create widespread blizzard conditions when coupled with 55 to 65 mph wind gusts. These values seem reasonable analyzing potential momentum transfer using 12 UTC BUFKIT soundings across the south central and eastern portions of our area. Synoptic forcing for large scale ascent becomes more diffuse through the day on Thursday and the snow will gradually taper. Gusty winds will remain in place through much of the day and blizzard conditions across the south central and east will be slow to relax. By the late afternoon, light snow will linger but winds will slowly start to abate. .LONG TERM...(Thursday night through Wednesday) Issued at 242 PM CDT Wed Mar 13 2019 BLizzard conditions continue to diminish Thursday evening from west to east. A few weak clippers follow overnight, late Friday night through Saturday, and another Sunday. However little or no significant weather will come of these, other than low end precipitation chances from the Turtle Mountains south into the James River Valley. High temperatures will remain in the 30s through the extended period. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Thursday evening) Issued at 658 PM CDT Wed Mar 13 2019 Accumulating snow combined with strong winds will lead to blizzard conditions at KBIS and KJMS by 06z this evening. Although blizzard conditions are not expected at KDIK, visibilities will still be significantly reduced down to 1/2 mile at times. Very little to no accumulating snow is expected at KMOT and KISN with visibilities remaining VFR. Widespread MVFR/IFR ceilings. Conditions improve Thursday morning into Thursday afternoon from west to east. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory from 1 AM CDT /midnight MDT/ to 10 AM CDT /9 AM MDT/ Thursday for NDZ012-019-021-033-040. Blizzard Warning from 1 AM to 1 PM CDT Thursday for NDZ005-013. Blizzard Warning until 7 PM CDT /6 PM MDT/ Thursday for NDZ036- 037-045>048-050-051. Blizzard Warning from 10 PM CDT /9 PM MDT/ this evening to 1 PM CDT /noon MDT/ Thursday for NDZ020-022-023-025-034-035-041>044. && UPDATE...NH SHORT TERM...ZH LONG TERM...ZH AVIATION...NH
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Bismarck ND 709 PM CDT Wed Mar 13 2019 NDZ005-013-020-022-023-025-034>037-041>048-050-051-150015- Rolette-Pierce-Oliver-Sheridan-Wells-Foster-Morton-Burleigh- Kidder-Stutsman-Hettinger-Grant-Bowman-Adams-Sioux-Emmons-Logan- La Moure-McIntosh-Dickey- 709 PM CDT Wed Mar 13 2019 /609 PM MDT Wed Mar 13 2019/ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of north central North Dakota, south central North Dakota, southeast North Dakota, and southwest North Dakota. .DAY ONE...Tonight A Blizzard Warning is in effect tonight and Thursday. See www.weather.gov/bis for further details. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday A Blizzard Warning remains in effect Thursday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters are encouraged to call the Bismarck National Weather Service at 1-800-247-0212 with visibility and snowfall reports. NDZ012-019-021-033-040-150015- McHenry-Mercer-McLean-Stark-Slope- 709 PM CDT Wed Mar 13 2019 /609 PM MDT Wed Mar 13 2019/ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of north central North Dakota, south central North Dakota, and southwest North Dakota. .DAY ONE...Tonight A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect late tonight through late Thursday morning. See www.weather.gov/bis for further details. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect through late Thursday morning. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters are encouraged to call the Bismarck National Weather Service at 1-800-247-0212 with visibility and snowfall reports. NDZ001>004-009>011-017-018-031-032-150015- Divide-Burke-Renville-Bottineau-Williams-Mountrail-Ward-McKenzie- Dunn-Golden Valley-Billings- 709 PM CDT Wed Mar 13 2019 /609 PM MDT Wed Mar 13 2019/ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of north central North Dakota, northwest North Dakota, and southwest North Dakota. .DAY ONE...Tonight The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
11 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy snowfall and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Heavy snowfall and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Heavy snowfall and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Heavy snowfall and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Heavy snowfall and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Heavy snowfall and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Heavy snowfall and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Heavy snowfall and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Heavy snowfall and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Heavy snowfall and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Heavy snowfall and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, March 2019
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: 813909, 813910, 813911, 813912, 813913, 813914, 813915, 813917, 813920, 813921, 813922.