National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Snow Continues in the Great Lakes; Above Normal Temperatures in the West

Lake effect snow will continue into the weekend as two more quick moving systems will bring widespread snow to the Upper Great Lakes. High winds are expected across portions of Montana through the weekend. Below normal temperatures will remain in place across much of the southern and eastern U.S., while the western U.S. will experience above normal temperatures. Read More >

Overview

A significant ice storm started late on Christmas Day 2023, continuing into the early morning of the 27th, producing ice accumulations of up to 1 inch in the James River Valley.

 

A storm system well to our south created blizzard conditions across South Dakota and Nebraska. Warm air aloft got wrapped around the center of the storm system and spread across North Dakota. This layer of warm air helped snow higher up in the atmosphere melt into rain before it reaches the surface. However, since surface temperatures were below freezing, precipitation became freezing rain and led to significant ice accumulations across south central North Dakota and the James River Valley. Precipitation moved into the James River Valley the afternoon of Christmas Day, before expanding west through the night and through most of the day Tuesday, December 26th. Reports from Verona and Edgeley were the highest, with 1 inch of ice accumulation, while Jamestown, Ashley, and Marion all received 3/4 of an inch of ice accumulation. Additionally, there were strong winds across southern North Dakota, with the highest gust of 67 mph reported at Oakes late on Christmas Day. 

A portion of Interstate 94 between Jamestown and Dawson was closed on the 26th, and no travel was advised by the North Dakota Department of Transportation for the most of this event, as roads were ice-covered and made travel very hazardous. Widespread power outages were reported across the James River Valley, with utility companies reporting hundreds of broken power poles.  Downed trees and tree branches were common as well from the combination of heavy ice accumulations and strong winds.

Ice storms, especially of this magnitude, are a rare occurrence in North Dakota. The last time NWS Bismarck issued an Ice Storm Warning was back in 2016. 

Image
Ice accumulation on a road sign, 10 miles east of Ashley, ND. Photo from Steven Gussey via Facebook.
nws logo Media use of NWS Web News Stories is encouraged!
Please acknowledge the NWS as the source of any news information accessed from this site.
nws logo