Blizzard Conditions Tuesday And Bismarck Is In The Bullseye

This has the makings of one of those spring storms that will have people talking for quite a while.  The National Weather Service in Bismarck has issued a Winter Storm Watch for much of central and southwest North Dakota from Tuesday morning through Thursday morning.  This does include all of our listening area, including the cities of Bismarck, Mandan, Wilton, Washburn, Flasher, Carson, Elgin, Hazelton, Linton, Napoleon, Hazen, Beulah, New Salem, Hebron, Glen Ullin, Sterling, and Steele.

It's not very often the National Weather Service issues a storm warning three days in advance unless they have extreme confidence in the course of the storm.  For once, it seems like western North Dakota is in the bullseye and not the eastern part of the state.

We can expect heavy snow and blizzard conditions possible.  Total snow accumulations between 10 and 20 inches possible.  Winds could gust as high as 40 miles per hour.

You can expect this storm to be upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning or Blizzard Warning either Sunday or Monday.

Impacts include travel could be very difficult to impossible.  Widespread blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility.  The hazardous conditions could impact the morning and evening communtes on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It's been a while since Bismarck has had a potential storm like this.  You would have to go back to October of 2019 when we had a 17 inch blizzard that crippled the community for a couple of days.  That was really the last big precipitation event, since then, drought conditions have taken hold.  Thankfully, it appears we are moving out of our dry conditions 2022, but there are still many areas in western North Dakota that could really use a lot precipitation.  It appears we're in line to get it.  Stand by for more information as we receive it.