An Alberta Clipper moved through the Northern Plains producing high winds over southwest and far south central North Dakota. The strongest reported wind gust of 67 mph occurred in Hettinger County.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 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 Alberta Clipper moved through the Northern Plains producing high winds over southwest and far south central North Dakota. The strongest reported wind gust of 67 mph occurred in Hettinger County. In addition, the clipper also produced heavy snow over northwest and north central North Dakota, which is addressed in a separate episode in the December 2024 edition of Storm Data.
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 Dec 19, 12:49 AM CST, 11 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Bismarck ND 1249 AM CST Thu Dec 19 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - A clipper system passing through will cause numerous forms of hazardous weather across western and central North Dakota through Thursday. Various winter weather headlines have been issued. - Heaviest total snow accumulations of around 5 to 8 inches will remain mainly along and north of Highway 52, with amounts of around 2 to 5 inches along and north of a line from Williston to Beulah to Ellendale. Lesser amounts to the south. - Strong northwest winds across western and south central North Dakota develop tonight through Thursday, with gusts as high as 60 mph in the southwest where a High Wind Warning has been issued. - Blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility, with near blizzard conditions possible. && .UPDATE... Issued at 1249 AM CST Thu Dec 19 2024 Overall, it appears the forecast is trending well. Starting to see more evidence that freezing rain has caused greater impacts along and south of the I-94 corridor from the Montana state line to near Bismarck. The threat of freezing rain will migrate eastward with the warm sector through the night, but with probabilities decreasing over time. Some thought was given to end the Winter Weather Advisory where surface air temperatures have risen above freezing, but it appears that ground temperatures have not warmed as much. Wind gusts in the 50 to 60 mph are becoming more common in eastern Montana and should build into southwest North Dakota by 1 AM MST. All ongoing headlines remain on track. UPDATE Issued at 911 PM CST Wed Dec 18 2024 Snow continues over most of northwestern and central ND. An enhanced band of snow is presently located generally along the Missouri River, and as such, is passing through the Bismarck/Mandan area. This is a progressive band, however, so residency time of this particular enhanced band in any one area isn't expected to be more than a couple of hours. In the southwest and far northwest, more scattered showery precipitation is present. There have been observations of freezing rain with these showery returns. However, freezing rain seems short-lived before transitioning back to snow. That said, Baker, MT is presently reporting a temperature of 43 degrees. As winds become westerly in the far southwest, forecast soundings do support the idea that the warm nose of air aloft will mix down. This will likely result in an hour or two of temperatures above freezing while surface temperatures likely remain below freezing. This could result in additional light ice accumulations on surfaces in the far southwest. UPDATE Issued at 611 PM CST Wed Dec 18 2024 Radar returns continue filling in across the forecast area. Presently, this is producing widespread visibility of around one half to 1 mile in the northwest and north central. As a rough estimate, this translates to around a quarter inch to an inch of snow per hour. Snow is expanding into the south central as well. In the southwest, there remains a dry layer off the surface, so to this point, precipitation has generally not been observed. However, this should saturate over the next hour or two. All in all, the overall forecast looks good and no headline changes are planned at this time. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 222 PM CST Wed Dec 18 2024 Current surface analysis places clipper system low situated over southern Alberta into northwest Montana, with high stretching from the Southern Plains to the Upper Midwest. Upper level analysis places notable short wave with the clipper along the Continental Divide, with secondary wave noted over the Pacific Northwest. Over our area, southeast winds have picked up ahead of the approaching clipper, with light snow nudging into northwestern North Dakota. For tonight, system continues it east-southeast progression with the low pushing into eastern Montana late this afternoon and western North Dakota later tonight. Snow will develop in earnest to the northeast of the low, with the heaviest snow generally along and north of Highway 52 where greatest lift is noted and temperatures remain cool. Further south, warmer air nudges in ahead of the approaching low, which brings the concern for freezing rain, notably over southwest into far south central North Dakota, albeit a little could nudge a bit further north. With that all said, any that does develop is expected to be quite light, with only a few hundreths expected at most. Still, that is enough to cause a notable impact to travel if this does develop. Low continues its east/southeast trajectory with cold air rapidly wrapping in behind the system overnight. Very strong pressure rises are noted, with strong winds aloft, particularly over southwest North Dakota, and elevated lapse rates. Therefore, the stage is set for strong winds to develop, strongest over the southwest where a High Wind Warning has been issued, with much of it coinciding where freezing rain was a concern. To the north and east, winter weather headlines are in place, with quite gusty winds expected. Have noted the possibility of near-blizzard conditions with blowing snow, with greatest concerns again around the Highway 52, parts of the Highway 200 corridor where the edge of the heavier snow melds up with some of the higher wind gusts. As we get into Thursday, low passes from southeast North Dakota/eastern South Dakota towards Minnesota/Iowa during the morning hours, with snow gradually tapering off during its departure. Winds will also gradually taper late morning into the afternoon hours. High pressure settles in over the plains Thursday night, with quite cold low temperatures expected. Another weak wave zips through the area on Friday, bringing low chances for snow to the area. Even if it does develop, it should remain quite light. A slow but consistent warming trend is expected through this weekend going into next week. Occasional low snow chances enter the forecast every so often, but impacts from this are expected to be minimal at this time. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z FRIDAY/... Issued at 1249 AM CST Thu Dec 19 2024 An Alberta clipper will continue to impact aviation overnight through Thursday morning. Snow with IFR to at times LIFR visibility is expected to continue from north central to southeast North Dakota through the morning, and is also likely to return to the northwest and south central early Thursday morning. The falling snow should taper off from west to east by around midday, but areas of blowing snow could continue to reduce visibility. In addition to the snow, southwest and south central North Dakota remain under the threat of freezing rain through the overnight hours. Ceilings will predominantly be at MVFR levels, with IFR at times, through Thursday morning, improving to VFR from west to east through the afternoon. Winds will become north to northwest and intensify later tonight into Thursday morning. The strongest winds of sustained speeds around 25-35 kts and gusts to 45-50 kts are expected across southwest and south central North Dakota. Low level wind shear will remain a concern over southwest North Dakota until surface winds turn to the northwest. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Storm Warning until 3 PM CST this afternoon for NDZ001>005-011>013. Winter Weather Advisory until noon CST /11 AM MST/ today for NDZ009-017>020-034. Winter Weather Advisory until 3 PM CST this afternoon for NDZ010-021-022. Winter Storm Warning until 6 PM CST this evening for NDZ023- 025. Winter Weather Advisory until 3 AM CST /2 AM MST/ early this morning for NDZ031>033-041-042-045. High Wind Warning until 3 PM CST /2 PM MST/ this afternoon for NDZ031>033-040>045. Winter Weather Advisory until 6 PM CST this evening for NDZ035>037-046>048-050-051. && UPDATE...Hollan DISCUSSION...JJS AVIATION...Hollan
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Bismarck ND 1251 AM CST Thu Dec 19 2024 NDZ001>005-011>013-023-025-200700- Divide-Burke-Renville-Bottineau-Rolette-Ward-McHenry-Pierce-Wells- Foster- 1251 AM CST Thu Dec 19 2024 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of north central North Dakota, northwest North Dakota, south central North Dakota, and southeast North Dakota. .DAY ONE...Tonight A Winter Storm Warning is in effect through Thursday afternoon. See www.wether.gov/bis for details. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday A Winter Storm Warning is in effect through Thursday afternoon. See weather.gov/bis for details. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters are welcome to call in snow or ice reports to the National Weather Service in Bismarck. NDZ009-010-017>022-034>037-046>048-050-051-200700- Williams-Mountrail-McKenzie-Dunn-Mercer-Oliver-McLean-Sheridan- Morton-Burleigh-Kidder-Stutsman-Emmons-Logan-La Moure-McIntosh- Dickey- 1251 AM CST Thu Dec 19 2024 /1151 PM MST Wed Dec 18 2024/ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of northwest North Dakota, south central North Dakota, southeast North Dakota, and southwest North Dakota. .DAY ONE...Tonight A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect through Thursday afternoon. See www.weather.gov/bis for details. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect through Thursday afternoon. See weather.gov/bis for details. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters are welcome to call in snow or ice reports to the National Weather Service in Bismarck. NDZ031>033-041-042-045-200700- Golden Valley-Billings-Stark-Hettinger-Grant-Sioux- 1251 AM CST Thu Dec 19 2024 /1151 PM MST Wed Dec 18 2024/ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of south central North Dakota and southwest North Dakota. .DAY ONE...Tonight A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect. A High Wind Warning is also in effect through early Thursday afternoon. See weather.gov/bis for details. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday A High Wind Warning is in effect through early Thursday afternoon. See weather.gov/bis for details. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter are welcome to call in ice reports or wind damage reports to the National Weather Service in Bismarck. NDZ040-043-044-200700- Slope-Bowman-Adams- 1151 PM MST Wed Dec 18 2024 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southwest North Dakota. .DAY ONE...Tonight A High Wind Warning is in effect through early Thursday afternoon. See weather.gov/bis for details. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday A High Wind Warning is in effect through early Thursday afternoon. See weather.gov/bis for details. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters are welcome to call in wind damage reports to the National Weather Service in Bismarck. Hollan
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Bismarck ND
1002 PM CST Wed Dec 18 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0800 PM Snow Williston 48.16N 103.63W
12/18/2024 E3.0 Inch Williams ND CO-OP Observer
Estimated storm total thus far. Still
snowing at time of report.
&&
ZHPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Bismarck ND
1054 PM CST Wed Dec 18 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1053 PM Snow 2 N Minot 48.26N 101.30W
12/18/2024 E4.0 Inch Ward ND Trained Spotter
Storm total snow thus far. Still snowing.
&&
ZHPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Bismarck ND
1206 AM CST Thu Dec 19 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1130 PM Snow Williston 48.16N 103.63W
12/18/2024 M3.0 Inch Williams ND CO-OP Observer
Light rain falling at the time.
&&Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Bismarck ND
1215 AM CST Thu Dec 19 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1200 AM Snow 3 SSE Bismarck 46.77N 100.76W
12/19/2024 M2.0 Inch Burleigh ND Official NWS Obs
Storm total so far.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
9 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Beach AWOS reported sustained winds to 46 mph.
Dickinson ASOS reported wind gusts to 64 mph.
Williams Lookout RAWS reported wind gusts to 67 mph.
New Leipzig NDDOT site reported wind gusts to 61 mph.
Bowman AWOS reported wind gusts to 58 mph.
Hettinger ASOS reported wind gusts to 62 mph.
Billings County had estimated wind gusts to 60 mph.
Slope County had estimated wind gusts to 60 mph.
Sioux County had estimated wind gusts to 60 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, December 2024
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: 1222706, 1222707, 1222708, 1222709, 1222712, 1222715, 1222716, 1222717, 1222718.