Blizzard — Burke, North Dakota

2022-04-12 to 2022-04-14 · Burke, North Dakota

Event narrative

Ongoing snow and strong winds combined to produce a blizzard.

Wider weather episode

A strong Colorado low lifted slowly through the Northern Plains into the Upper Midwest, resulting in a multi-day blizzard over most of North Dakota. Snow spread from southwest to northeast on April 12, with conditions rapidly deteriorating upon the onset of the snow due to the strong easterly winds. By the late afternoon of April 12, Interstate 94 was closed from the Montana state line to Jamestown, with difficult to impossible travel on remaining roads over western and central North Dakota. Winds eventually shifted towards the northwest during the duration of the blizzard as snowfall rates gradually decreased. Still, travel remained impossible as winds continued to gust to around 60 mph over many locations, which combined with the snow on the ground and some falling snow to produce zero visibility. Total snowfall amounts ranged from one to three feet over much of western and central North Dakota, with the highest reports around the Minot area. Multiple one, two, and three day snowfall records were broken. Two direct deaths occurred with this blizzard. One was a 73 year old female in Minot near the Minot Post Office, and the other was a 60 year old male in Watford City along the 200 block of 25th Avenue NE.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1018826. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.