textproduct: Grand Forks

KEY MESSAGES

- Very difficult travel conditions today into tonight due to snow and ice covered roads, reduced visibility from heavy snow rates and blowing snow, as well as gusty winds. Lingering impacts from snow showers and blowing snow are expected tonight into early Wednesday.

- High winds are expected over the next 1-3 hours in southeast North Dakota. Wind gusts over 50 mph are expected.

- Much colder temperatures will arrive late week, with a 80 percent chance for wind chills to drop to -30 or colder.

UPDATE

Issued at 1122 PM CST Tue Dec 9 2025

Heavy snowfall rates have come to an end across the region. With the highest winds in the location where the least blowable snow is, impacts should have greatly improved. Expect at least some visibility reductions and drifting snow with patchy blowing snow through the overnight period.

UPDATE Issued at 943 PM CST Tue Dec 9 2025

Snow continues to push southward this evening. For the most part, heavier snowfall rates have ended in the northern half of the region, so the Winter Storm Warning there has been downgraded to a Winter Weather Advisory. Further south, high winds are approaching southeast North Dakota. Wind gusts as high as 67 mph have been observed to the west. Based on where cold air advection is strongest, the expectation is for the strongest winds to be just south of our region, however 50-65+ mph gusts are expected along the ND/SD state border.

Conditions should slowly begin to improve after midnight for the most part as the heaviest impacts continue to move away from the region. Hazardous travel conditions will at least linger into tomorrow morning as snow showers will be ongoing through the night into tomorrow.

UPDATE Issued at 522 PM CST Tue Dec 9 2025

A heavy snow band is working its way through Grand Forks to Crookston right now and is dropping visibilities to between 1/4SM to 3/4SM. An additional few inches are expected over the next several hours across the heaviest snowfall bands. Further south, a transition from freezing rain to snow is ongoing, particularly at FAR where freezing rain changed over to snow at the observation station. The heaviest snowfall rates should start to diminish around midnight, but horizontal convective rolls are still expected to develop but we don't know how widespread they will be. As a result, no headline changes on this update.

..Arctic air and cold/wind chills impacts

Late this week arctic air begins to arrive and the cold air mass over the weekend will support lows in the negative teens and 20s, and there is a strong signal for at least advisory (-30) wind chills. Depending on wind speeds warning criteria (-40) may be met with increasing chances particularly north of Highway 2.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z THURSDAY/

Issued at 1122 PM CST Tue Dec 9 2025

MVFR to IFR ceilings and visibility will prevail for the first 12 hours of the TAF period. This will be caused by periodic bursts of heavier snowfall rates and isolated blowing snow. For the most part, however, conditions should remain primarily MVFR. VFR ceilings may come in and out at times as well, but generally cloud decks should remain between 015-025.

Winds will remain the northwesterly for the entire TAF period with sustained winds decreasing after 18z. Expect gradual improvements to visibility but ceilings remaining MVFR through the end of the TAF period.

FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

ND...Winter Weather Advisory until 6 AM CST Wednesday for NDZ006>008-014>016-024-026>030-038-039-049-052>054. High Wind Warning until 6 AM CST Wednesday for NDZ049-052-053. MN...Winter Weather Advisory until 6 AM CST Wednesday for MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040.