Is Winter Officially Over For North Dakota?

There are a lot of signs of spring in North Dakota right now.

Although it's not rare, rain in February in North Dakota is uncommon. Parts of western and southern North Dakota (including Bismarck Mandan) saw a pretty decent shower.

According to the National Weather Service in Bismarck, we received .08 of rain from a shower that just screamed spring around lunchtime on Monday.

The rest of the week is looking much like spring as we close out the month of February.

You can expect highs in the 40s or 50s and signs are pointing to above normal temps for the first week of March too.

Take a look at the long-range forecast for Bismarck Mandan from Accuweather.

Plenty of 40s and even some 50s for the month of March coming our way. Yes, we will see some 30s for daytime highs but the one thing you don't see is BELOW ZERO temperatures. After breaking a couple of all-time low-temperature records last week of -36 and -39, that sure sounds nice.

Can we go ahead and declare the groundhog was wrong and winter is over?

I say yes. This doesn't mean we won't see some snow or even a storm or two, but bone-chilling temps are done for the season. No more below-zero weather. That sure sounds good to me after our most recent significant bout with arctic air.

It's going to be warm enough to open up the river in the next couple of weeks. Fishermen will be chasing walleyes, something so many of us look forward to on the Missouri River.

Yep, I'm going to say it once again. I believe winter is TOAST in North Dakota.

Let's hope the long-range forecast is correct and March will come in like a lamb and go out as a lamb too.