textproduct: Grand Forks

KEY MESSAGES

- Light snow and blowing snow will bring advisory level impacts to parts of the area, especially from the Red River Valley westward. Accumulations will be light; however, wind gusts could reach up to 45 mph.

- Dangerously cold wind chills of 30 below to 60 below are expected Thursday morning through Sunday morning.

UPDATE

Issued at 951 PM CST Tue Jan 20 2026

Mostly cloudy skies continue with the lowest clouds across southeast North Dakota and west-central Minnesota. Beneath this cloud deck, falling snow has been observed but impacts to visibility have been nonimpactful (generally 7-10 miles visibility). This will continue through the overnight. We don't expect winds to start picking up until after 6 AM tomorrow, so blowing snow impacts shouldn't arise until after then.

UPDATE Issued at 656 PM CST Tue Jan 20 2026

Intermittent flurries will continue this evening but impacts will remain limited as visibility reductions and accumulations will be minimal. As such, no meaningful weather impacts should occur overnight.

..Dangerously Cold Wind Chills Thursday Through Sunday

Frigid, Arctic, air settles into the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest following Wednesday's cold front. Surface temperatures plummet Wednesday night into Thursday, with continued CAA through the day Thursday. Overnight lows fall into the teens below zero Wednesday night, then keep falling through the day on Thursday, settling into the 20s below to 30s below zero Thursday night and Friday morning. Wind chills are expected to fall into the range of 40 below zero to 60 below zero by early Friday morning.

AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z THURSDAY/

Issued at 527 PM CST Tue Jan 20 2026

Intermittent flurries to light snow beneath stratus may continue at BJI and FAR through the early evening hours but should come to an end soon. Having said that, low level stratus has begun to form on the backside of this system, particularly west of Grand Forks. It is likely that this deck is at least MVFR but could be IFR. Sadly, the deck is fairly small at this time and has missed ceilometer sites, but ongoing expansion means that GFK likely will be falling to at least MFR soon. Depending on the scope of this stratus deck, FAR and DVL may also be affected. Flurries beneath this stratus also cannot be ruled out.

What is certain is that another winter system will push through tomorrow after 09z from northwest to southeast. Intermitted light snow should impact all TAF sites to some degree and with winds increasing with this system, blowing snow will likely add to impacts. Visibilities may fall to IFR/LIFR at times, with a low chance for VLIFR if falling snow and blowing snow combine at the same time. This will last through the end of the TAF period before we see improvements to aviation conditions.

FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

ND...Winter Weather Advisory from 6 AM to 6 PM CST Wednesday for NDZ006>008-014>016-024-026>030-038-039-049-052>054. Cold Weather Advisory from midnight Wednesday night to noon CST Thursday for NDZ024-027>030-038-039. Extreme Cold Watch from Thursday afternoon through Sunday morning for NDZ006>008-014>016-024-026>030-038-039-049- 052>054. Extreme Cold Warning from midnight Wednesday night to noon CST Thursday for NDZ006>008-014>016-026-054. MN...Winter Weather Advisory from 6 AM to 6 PM CST Wednesday for MNZ001>004-007-029-030-040. Cold Weather Advisory from midnight Wednesday night to noon CST Thursday for MNZ001>003-013>017-022>024-027-028. Extreme Cold Watch from Thursday afternoon through Sunday morning for MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040. Extreme Cold Warning from midnight Wednesday night to noon CST Thursday for MNZ004>009.