Blizzard — Stark, North Dakota

1997-01-09 to 1997-01-11 · Stark, North Dakota

Wider weather episode

The second blizzard in less than 1 week brought North Dakota to a virtual standstill. This blizzard didn't bring as much snow as the first storm, but the winds gusted from the northwest as high at 40 mph and they lasted for 3 days. Snowfall amounts from this storm varied from 1-2 inches in the southwest to 2-4 inches in the central. But the strong winds combined with this snow as well as the snow from the blizzard a few days earlier created widespread whiteout conditions that lasted for 3 days. There were numerous communities that halted mail delivery and cancelled school. In Emmons Co. every road was blocked by drifts, some as high as 18 feet. In McLean Co. there was a drift at the intersection of highways 83 and 37 that was 12 feet high and 150 yards long. It took snow plow operators working from both directions 10 hours to open. The Standing Rock Indian Reservation had severe hardship with snow drifts taller than buses blocking all the entrance roads. Most of the people on the reservation ran out of propane to heat their homes, and food shortages were widespread. Again, almost every major road in North Dakota was closed and plows pulled off. In Foster Co., the county road department had to abandon some roads because they no longer had to money or equipment to open them back up. When plows were running, the operators were putting in 12-14 hours days. The drifts were so big that 2 coal trains got stranded in the blizzard and an Amtrack train was stranded in Stanley. Many buildings were beginning to fail from the weight of the snow of this storm and the previous one. There were reports of people getting stranded in vehicles for up to 40 hours. Those that stayed with the vehicle survived, but those that didn't either perished or suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 70-90 percent of their body. A 41 year old Carrington man died from exposure when he tried to walk from his stranded car to his parents farm house 1/2 mile away. A 66 yr. old Dunseith man died of hypothermia when he fell off of his porch when the railing gave way and couldn't get back up. As the storm was winding down on the 11th and 12th, bitter cold air moved in, and with the strong northwest winds still blowing, wind chills plummeted to 85-90 below with actual air temperatures 20-30 below. In Elgin(Grant Co), the water tower froze and broke open due to the cold temperatures. With the amount of suffering and hardship going on, Gov. Schafer of North Dakota declared the state a disaster area. This was followed on the 12th with President Clinton approaving the 1st ever request to declare a major statewide disaster. The national guard was called in to help with snow removal as many communities had already spent their snow removal money before this storm. Injuries and dollar damage amounts estimated.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5587148. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.