5 inches of snow in Grand Forks, but towns to the west got more, including some 8.5 inches in Devils Lake
Oct. 27—GRAND FORKS — The first winter-weather event of the season brought upwards of a foot of snow to western North Dakota and approximately 5 inches to Grand Forks, with a number of towns in between checking in with 6 to 9 inches.
Snow totals included 9.5 inches in Forest River, 9 inches in Rugby, 8.4 inches in Luverne and 8 inches in Leeds, according to a WDAY broadcast Friday morning. Fargo-Moorhead's total was an inch, or slightly less.
Elsewhere in North Dakota, Jamestown saw 3 inches, Buchanan had 7 and Ellendale had 3.5, according to various reports.
It's a good amount of snow for October, but those totals are still dwarfed by the snowfall in western North Dakota, where 12 inches fell in Dickinson and Minot.
In Devils Lake, approximately 8.5 inches fell, prompting a school delay. Devils Lake City Administrator Spencer Halvorson said that as the storm approached, the city was prepared.
"We've got crews that are cross-trained, so between our streets and utilities departments we can usually coordinate pretty well and make sure that we have people on the streets when and where they need to be," Halvorson said. "Obviously, it was a little earlier than we'd expect, but it's all part of the job."
As of 8:15 a.m., he said "it's not actively snowing right now. I hope that remains the case."
Many schools across the region opened late Friday morning. A number of counties in northeast North Dakota and a few in extreme northwest Minnesota were in a winter storm warning early Friday morning.
Although some snow could still fall through the weekend, it probably won't be much, according to Lydia Blume, a WDAY meteorologist.
"Snow accumulation is done," Blume said during the station's Friday morning broadcast. "A couple of flurries still remain (Friday), (Saturday) and even into Sunday, but I'm not worried about large impacts from any flurry action over the weekend."
Temperatures in Grand Forks will remain below freezing for the coming days, Blume predicted, including highs of 22 on Friday, 28 on Saturday, 26 on Sunday, 30 on Monday and 27 on Tuesday, which is Halloween. In Fargo, the high temperatures will be slightly warmer, but not much — highs around 31 through the weekend, up to 34 on Monday and about 31 on Tuesday.
"Halloween looks chilly," Blume said. "We're looking for a lot of upper 20s for your trick-or-treat temperatures on Halloween. Think about all of those layers you're going to add — incorporate the hats, the mittens ... as you're out there getting goodies to put in your bucket."
It won't get much better than that anytime soon, however. Highs in the extended forecast — Wednesday through next weekend — are only expected to be around 32 to 35 in the northern Red River Valley and around 38 to 40 in the Fargo-Moorhead area. And late next week, Friday and Saturday, there is another chance of showers and snow, Blume said.
The Grand Forks Herald's Delaney Otto contributed to this report.
