A strong Colorado low lifted slowly through the Northern Plains into the Upper Midwest, resulting in a multi-day blizzard over most of North Dakota. Snow spread from southwest to northeast on April 12, with conditions rapidly deteriorating upon the onset of the snow due to the strong easterly winds.
Every event with a place to put it; 30 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 strong Colorado low lifted slowly through the Northern Plains into the Upper Midwest, resulting in a multi-day blizzard over most of North Dakota. Snow spread from southwest to northeast on April 12, with conditions rapidly deteriorating upon the onset of the snow due to the strong easterly winds. By the late afternoon of April 12, Interstate 94 was closed from the Montana state line to Jamestown, with difficult to impossible travel on remaining roads over western and central North Dakota. Winds eventually shifted towards the northwest during the duration of the blizzard as snowfall rates gradually decreased. Still, travel remained impossible as winds continued to gust to around 60 mph over many locations, which combined with the snow on the ground and some falling snow to produce zero visibility. Total snowfall amounts ranged from one to three feet over much of western and central North Dakota, with the highest reports around the Minot area. Multiple one, two, and three day snowfall records were broken. Two direct deaths occurred with this blizzard. One was a 73 year old female in Minot near the Minot Post Office, and the other was a 60 year old male in Watford City along the 200 block of 25th Avenue NE.
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 12, 5:51 AM CST, 9 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Bismarck ND 651 AM CDT Tue Apr 12 2022 .UPDATE... Issued at 651 AM CDT Tue Apr 12 2022 Snow continues expanding north through western and central North Dakota this morning, with significantly reduced visibilities already being reported across parts of the southwest and south central. Some early reports coming in include icy roads in far southern Burleigh County, at least an inch of snow and strong winds in New England, snow-covered roads in parts of the southwest per the NDDOT travel map, and here at the office in southeast Bismarck we've had about half an inch of accumulation. The forecast remains on track with no noteworthy changes with this update. Latest high-res guidance continues to favor the tightest snow gradient setting up southwest to northeast across the James River Valley. Conditions are expected to deteriorate rapidly through the morning and afternoon today. We encourage those in the Blizzard Warning to only travel if absolutely necessary, as travel will quickly become dangerous to impossible through the day today. && .SHORT TERM...(Today through Thursday) Issued at 430 AM CDT Tue Apr 12 2022 A significant blizzard will impact western and central North Dakota over the next few days. Snow accumulations of up to 36 inches are possible in parts of north central North Dakota, with widespread wind gusts up to 50 mph across the area. Early this morning, a closed low was traversing across the northern Rockies, with strong southwest flow across the forecast area. At the surface, a deepening low was located in southeast Wyoming. Precipitation was already visible on radar on the north and western sides of the surface low, from multiple impulses embedded in the mean southwest flow and strong low level warm air advection with easterly flow wrapping around the low. Things are progressing as expected this morning, with the far northern band of precipitation already crossing Interstate 94. Some light snow is falling at the office as of 915 UTC, and Hettinger ASOS has dropped to a visibility of 1 mile. The expectation this morning is for snow to quickly expand north across almost all of western and central North Dakota, with northeast winds strengthening to 30 to 35 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph. Snow will become heavy across much of the west and central, with snow rates of over 1" per hour likely to be sustained through much of today in the axis of heaviest snow, driven by a deformation band stacked with a strong vort max and the previously mentioned low level warm air advection. The question the past few days has been where the heaviest snow will end up, and the changes with this update were very minimal in that regards, although the latest NBM 4.1 probabilities did want to shift highest totals back to the southeast just a bit. Regardless, we are still expecting a swath of snow amounts in the 25 to 35 inch range, generally in the area from Watford City to Center and northeast through north central North Dakota. Isolated amounts of over 36 inches are possible. The falling snow with strong winds will lead to whiteout conditions, especially with the enhanced snowfall rates. There is still some uncertainty on where the gradient of heaviest snow amounts will end in the south central through the James River Valley, where previous discussions have talked about concerns with dry slotting cutting down snow totals significantly. NBM 4.1 probabilities mirror this well, with probabilities of total snow amounts of at least 18" ranging from over 80% in the far northwest part of Stutsman County to under 10% in the far southeast part of the county. There could still be more subtle shifts in the gradient, but at this point we have enough confidence to add Foster, Stutsman, Logan, and McIntosh Counties to the Blizzard Warning. LaMoure and Dickey are in the tricky spot, where snow amounts could vary significantly from west to east across the counties, so we put those two counties in a Winter Weather Advisory to account for varied snow amounts and blowing snow from strong winds. There is still the possibility for some light freezing rain in the James River Valley, but this again is quite dependent on the track of the low and where the dry slot ends up. As the upper low moves over the Dakotas tonight, winds will diminish just slightly, and will shift to become north-northwesterly by Wednesday morning as the surface low pushes off to over central Minnesota. So although conditions might briefly improve overnight, they are expected to deteriorate again as snow continues and winds become even stronger through the day Wednesday. New snow accumulations should decrease slowly Wednesday afternoon and evening as the strongest forcing with the system lifts off to our northeast. We should finally start to see some improvement on Thursday, as the upper and surface low become more stacked and continuing progressing off to our east. Light snow will likely continue through the day, especially in the east, and strong northwest winds will be similar to Wednesday. Also worth noting is how cold it will be the next few days. Highs today will range from the lower 20s in the southeast to the lower 40s in the southern James River Valley, but Thursday will only have highs in the 20s across the area. Overnight lows will drop into the teens in western North Dakota, and with the strong winds, wind chills will be in the single digits above to below zero, quite chilly for mid April. .LONG TERM...(Friday through Monday) Issued at 430 AM CDT Tue Apr 12 2022 The extended forecast is highlighted by continued cold temperatures and a chance for snow this weekend. As the low finally, finally starts to move off further to the east, we'll stay cloudy, breezy, and cool on Friday under cyclonic flow aloft. Some low maximum temperatures records could be set on Friday, with another day of widespread highs only in the 20s. We could see a quick round of light snow this weekend as a progressive wave moves through, with the latest NBM carrying slight chance to chance PoPs across the forecast area Saturday evening through Sunday. Too early for many details, especially with low agreement among ensemble guidance, but something to keep an eye on, especially with it being Easter weekend. What is more certain is it will continue to be cold, with highs not breaking the 30s through the start of next week. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Wednesday morning) Issued at 651 AM CDT Tue Apr 12 2022 A significant winter storm will impact the region through the TAF period and beyond. Southern KBIS/KDIK/KJMS terminals will reach LIFR to VLIFR conditions by 14Z, and northern terminals KXWA/KMOT by early afternoon. Winds will be northeasterly at 25-30 knots and gusting to 40 knots before beginning to transition to northerly around 00Z and northwesterly by the end of the TAF period. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Blizzard Warning until 7 PM CDT /6 PM MDT/ Thursday for NDZ017>023-025-035>037-046-047-050. Blizzard Warning until 7 PM CDT /6 PM MDT/ Thursday for NDZ031>034-040>045. Blizzard Warning from 1 PM this afternoon to 7 PM CDT Thursday for NDZ001>005-009>013. Winter Weather Advisory from 7 PM this evening to 7 PM CDT Thursday for NDZ048-051. && UPDATE...Jones SHORT TERM...Jones LONG TERM...Jones AVIATION...Jones
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Bismarck ND 544 AM CDT Tue Apr 12 2022 NDZ001>005-009>013-017>023-025-031>037-040>047-050-131045- 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- McIntosh- 544 AM CDT Tue Apr 12 2022 /444 AM MDT Tue Apr 12 2022/ 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...Today and Tonight A Blizzard Warning is in effect. See www.weather.gov/bis for details. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday A Blizzard Warning is in effect through Thursday afternoon. See www.weather.gov/bis for details. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters are encouraged to report snow amounts to the National Weather Service via social media or by calling 1-800-247-0212. NDZ048-051-131045- La Moure-Dickey- 544 AM CDT Tue Apr 12 2022 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southeast North Dakota. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect tonight. See www.weather.gov/bis for details. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect through Thursday afternoon. See www.weather.gov/bis for details. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters are encouraged to report snow amounts to the National Weather Service via social media or by calling 1-800-247-0212. MEJ
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
34 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard. One direct death occurred, a 60 year old male in Watford City who was found along the 200 block of 25th Avenue NE, about one block from his residence.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard. One direct death occurred, a 73 year-old female in the city of Minot who was found near the Minot Post Office, which is located near the intersection of 5th Avenue SW and South Broadway.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blizzard, McKenzie | 2022-04-14 | 60 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Blizzard, Ward | 2022-04-14 | 73 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, April 2022
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: 1018801, 1018802, 1018803, 1018804, 1018805, 1018806, 1018807, 1018808, 1018809, 1018810, 1018811, 1018812, 1018813, 1018814, 1018815, 1018816, 1018817, 1018818, 1018819, 1018820, 1018821, 1018822, 1018823, 1018857, 1018824, 1018825, 1018826, 1018827, 1018828, 1018829, 1018830, 1018831, 1018832, 1018833.