Wind gusts as high as 51 mph blew across Stanley, in northwest North Dakota on Sunday, and many locations saw gusts of 45 mph to 48 mph, with steady winds in a range from 30 to 40 mph across most of the region, according to Pete Speicher, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Forks.
Near record warmth hit the Grand Forks area and this week will continue warmer than normal, but not as warm as Sunday, Speicher said.
The high winds of 30 to 40 mph were expected to continue to about midnight Sunday, with a high wind warning in effect across most of North Dakota and the east side of the Red River Valley in Minnesota. But the gusts didn't hit 60 mph, as earlier forecasts said was possible, at least not by 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Speicher said.
Early Sunday, the forecast was for winds of 35 to 45 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph, to move from the west into the Devils Lake Basin by about noon, and move east, possibly causing problems for high-profile vehicles.
It ended up being more than breezy, but nothing registered 60 mph by 8:30 p.m., Speicher said, although high winds were possible until midnight Sunday.
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The North Dakota Highway Patrol reported at 8:30 p.m. that there had not been any traffic-related problems caused by the high winds.
The winds were expected to die down by this morning, and temperatures in Grand Forks will fall to about 22 above early today, after hitting a near-record Sunday at the International Airport. The temperature rose to 47 above at 11:38 a.m. Sunday, 2 degrees below the record for the date set in 1983 at the airport.
The warm temperatures did shrink the snow pack by an inch or two, Speicher said. By about 5 p.m. Sunday, the snow depth at the airport was measured at 7 inches.
The highest wind gust at the airport was 39 mph and the highest steady wind speed was 30 mph, coming from the west northwest.
Highways were mostly dry Sunday in the region, with some blowing snow. Gravel rural roads, however, were difficult in spots where packed snow and drifts had melted and softened into inches of slush on top of mud.
Temperatures will remain mild, but not as warm as Sunday, through the week, mostly in the 30s, with 40 above possible Tuesday.
Speicher said each night the temperature will fall below freezing this week, stopping the melt.
A storm system, with colder temperatures, is expected to move in Friday, he said.
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Reach Lee at (701) 780-1237; (800) 477-6572, ext. 237; or send e-mail to slee@gfherald.com
