As North Dakota digs out from Blizzard Blitzen, greater Grand Forks was left relatively in the clear.
National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Hopkins said Tuesday preliminary totals estimate the cities straddling the Red River received about 3.5 inches of snowfall, far less than the top-end forecast calling for double digits.
Other parts of northeast North Dakota met those heavier expectations with early reports indicating Park River was hit with 8 inches of snow, Devils Lake with about 10 inches and Cando with more than a foot.
Across the river, northwest Minnesota stayed in line with the Grand Forks area. Warroad saw about 4.5 inches of snowfall. A little farther southwest, Karlstad received a little less than 3.5 inches. Even farther south, Warren reported 4 inches of snow. Preliminary totals for Crookston and Thief River Falls had not yet been reported Tuesday.
While the snow situation was fairly gentle in eastern North Dakota, preliminary snow totals piled on farther west.
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Esmond, N.D., a small Benson County town almost 50 miles west of Devils Lake, got buried by just shy of 18 inches of snow. Grassy Butte, a rural community south of Watford City in McKenzie County, beat even that with an early report of about 18.5 inches. Watford City was hit with slightly less than 16 inches.
North Dakota's larger cities weren't spared from the heavy snow; Minot was hit with about 16 inches, while Mandan reported an early total of 13.2 inches of snow.
The heavy snow made holiday travel near-impossible across much of the state and shut down the airports in Bismarck and Minot along with a wide network of arterial roadways, including nearly the entirety of Interstate 94. Though the major roads are back online, it could take a few more days to fully clear snow from the remainder of the state's roads.
The Grand Forks area might get more snow this week. The forecast calls for seasonal temperatures with a 20 percent chance of snow late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning. By Friday, the area likely will have a 30 percent chance of snow.
