The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for all of North Dakota for Christmas Day through Saturday.
The winter storm warning for the Red River Valley will expire at 6 a.m. Saturday before northeast winds of 25-35 miles per hour are forecast to cause widespread whiteout conditions.
As of 6 a.m., the National Weather Service office in Grand Forks measured 3.4 inches had fallen since Wednesday night. An additional one to two feet of snow could fall before the snow tapers off Saturday afternoon. The winds are forecast to slowly diminish Sunday.
More than 150 flights have already been cancelled at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where one to two runways are operating. The cancellations included Delta Airlines flights 3369 and 3374 in and out of Grand Forks International Airport.Flight 3379's arrival is delayed until 1:11 p.m. and flight 3359 is scheduled to depart at 1:30 p.m.
Allegiant Air's afternoon flight to Las Vegas is scheduled to depart on time.
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An agent for Amtrak said the eastbound Empire Builder was running on time to leave Grand Forks at about 5 a.m. Christmas Day. Call the station at (701) 775-0484 between midnight and 8 a.m. for updates.
Officials at Jefferson Bus Line were still planning southbound routes to Fargo, Minneapolis and Sioux Falls as of noon Thursday. Call (701) 775-4781 for updates.
The North Dakota Department of Transportation says roads in eastern North Dakota are reported snow covered.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation says roads in the northwestern part of the state are in fair driving condition. The Minnesota Highway Patrol has reported one traffic fatality from the storm as of 6 a.m. today.
