textproduct: Bismarck

KEY MESSAGES

- Breezy to windy with scattered snow showers today, mainly northwest. Scattered rain showers south central, with a rain/snow transition in between. Snow showers may have very brief periods of moderate to heavy snow.

- Medium to high chances for another round of rain and possibly some wet snow Sunday into Monday.

- Below average temperatures continue through the weekend, and likely through the upcoming work week.

UPDATE

Issued at 1134 AM CDT Fri Apr 24 2026

As of 11 PM there were around a dozen sites in west central and northwest ND with sustained winds at 30-35 mph, with around another dozen more in the 27-30 mph range. Bufkit guidance shows strong winds again at the top of the mixed layer with steepening lapse rates. Overall, not as windy as yesterday, but think the winds will remain strong through the afternoon and with scattered rain/snow showers around there will be the potential to mix some of those higher winds down to the surface. Will also message some on and off lower visibilities with snow showers this afternoon. Hazard has been sent. Will update remaining text products shortly.

UPDATE Issued at 938 AM CDT Fri Apr 24 2026

No significant changes with the morning update. Did adjust sky cover and pops some today based on current obs and short term guidance. Basically lowered sky cover and pops this morning and trended to some higher pops this afternoon. Updated text products will be transmitted shortly.

UPDATE Issued at 638 AM CDT Fri Apr 24 2026

Cloud cover wrapping around upper low is now pushing its way into northwest North Dakota, though precipitation is still holding off to the west. Expect this to continue spreading into the area this morning.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 349 AM CDT Fri Apr 24 2026

Current surface analysis places broad low over west-central Manitoba. Upper level analysis places low over southern Saskatchewan. Broad area of rain/snow over western South Dakota has been trying to spread into south central North Dakota but so far has been failing, while some shower activity has been developing over northeast Montana.

For today, persist upper low remains over southeastern Saskatchewan, wavering towards and away from the international border, while surface low starts retracting towards the west. Low to medium precipitation chances wrap around the low into our area through the day. Over the northwest, expect any shower activity to be snow, with mainly rain for remaining locations. Where snow showers do occur, latest RAP continues to show pockets of instability (~200-400 J/Kg), so cant rule out occasional very brief periods of moderate to heavy snow showers. Westerly winds will be on the increase, strongest over the northwest. With that said, overall winds will be lower than yesterday and should stay below advisory criteria, but can't rule out an occasional higher gust, especially in the vicinity of any shower.

Upper low does a gradual northward lift for Saturday, keeping a westerly breeze over our area.

By Sunday upper low shifts further north over Saskatchewan and Manitoba, with southwest flow over our area. A notable wave passes over the Rockies and deepens as it pushes into the plains with a surface low spinning up. This will result in a broad area of precipitation developing but question still exists on how far to the northwest this precipitation will extend into our area. Clusters still split on strength of this system, but chances are looking higher that at least the southern/eastern portions of our area will see precipitation Sunday into Monday.

Behind this system guidance suggests we enter a quieter and drier period for the middle and later portions of the upcoming work week though temperatures still remain somewhat on the cooler side.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 1134 AM CDT Fri Apr 24 2026

Scattered rain and snow showers are expected to develop over western and central North Dakota today. Over northwest North Dakota, expect mainly snow, which could cause brief visibility reductions to IFR and possibly LIFR levels in heavier snow showers. Elsewhere, mainly rain or a rain/snow mix is expected with possible visibility restrictions to MVFR levels. Precipitation dissipates this evening. Westerly winds will again be on the increase with the gustiest winds over northwest North Dakota this afternoon. Winds also diminish this evening.

BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Wind Advisory until 7 PM CDT /6 PM MDT/ this evening for NDZ001>005-009-010-012-013-017>019-031>033-055>058.