Blizzard — Griggs, North Dakota

1997-04-05 to 1997-04-06 · Griggs, North Dakota

Wider weather episode

With falling temperatures on the back side of the low, the freezing rain turned to ice pellets and then to snow. A strong pressure gradient created winds up to 65 mph, dropping visibilities down to zero. The strong wind, on top of heavy ice accumulations, caused thousands of power poles to snap. This cut power to over 100,000 people in eastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota and resulted in $30 million in damages just to the power infrastructure. A 2,060 foot television tower collapsed near Galesburg on April 5th. With power cut, many people had to seek shelters with generator power in order to keep warm. Some smaller communities were without power for more than a week. Most television and radio stations were knocked off the air, causing one Fargo radio station to become the only source of storm news for the area. In Grand Forks, 3 inches of ice pellets fell, and as the wind increased, one foot drifts of ice pellets were created. Snowfall totals on the 6th ranged around 7 inches. Interstates 29 and 94 were both closed in North Dakota, along with US Highway 2 from Lakota to Grand Forks. A 33 year-old Lankin man died from exposure, after walking away from his stalled vehicle. The blizzard was especially tough on livestock, with thousands reported dead. The governor of North Dakota declared the state a disaster area on the 6th, with a Presidential disaster declaration coming on the 7th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5591758. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.