A winter storm watch was canceled Thursday afternoon for eastern North Dakota, as the National Weather Service upgraded its forecast significantly. Things are looking better than the experts thought.
Despite earlier forecasts of widespread snow, not much snow, if any, will hit the Grand Forks area by early today, said Peter Rogers, meteorologist in the weather service's Grand Forks office.
But the rain that has been falling will continue into this vening, he said.
By about 8 p.m. Thursday, 0.42 of an inch of rain had fallen in Grand Forks at the weather service's UND reporting site. More rain fell to the south.
The rain continued Thursday night and more rain will fall, on and off, through today, so that totals for the storm system could add up to 0.75 of an inch in the Grand Forks area and an inch to 1.5 inches in the southern end of the Red River Valley, by the time the rainfall quits tonight, Rogers said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Although as late as Thursday morning, the weather service still forecasted as much as 6 inches of snow hitting parts of northeastern North Dakota tonight, that all changed after noon.
"The (projected) accumulations have dropped dramatically," Rogers said. "We canceled the winter storm watch. It's no longer out there. And here in town, we may get an inch of wet slushy snow (Friday), but that's on the generous side. So really, we expect little or no accumulation of snow in Grand Forks. The storm system ended up being warmer and moving quicker that we thought earlier."
Some areas near Fargo and into western Minnesota might end up with an inch or more of total precipitation by the time it all ends later today, but no one should see much snow that lasts, Rogers said.
Areas in central North Dakota still might see snowfall amounts up to 3 or 4 inches, which with winds will make travel difficult at times into today.
The weather service put on a flood watch for Cass and Clay counties around Fargo and areas just south of Fargo, because of the expected rain totals that will immediately drain off already soaked fields into streams.
But conditions will improve this weekend.
Saturday will be dry, with high temperatures in the mid-40s, and lows in the mid-20s.
Another possible light snow changing to rain is forecast to move through Sunday morning in northeast North Dakota, but it won't amount to any accumulation or measurable precipitation, Rogers said. The weekend will be mostly cloudy, but next week looks dry with more sun than clouds, through Thursday, at least, with consistent temperatures reaching the low 40s each day and dipping to the mid-20s or high-20s each night.
ADVERTISEMENT
It should give farmers some drying conditions for the unharvested crops still in the fields, Rogers said.
Reach Lee at (701) 780-1237; (800) 477-6572, ext. 237; or send e-mail to slee@gfherald.com
