textproduct: Grand Forks

KEY MESSAGES

- Dangerously cold wind chills to 60 below zero will continue through Sunday morning. The coldest period will be tonight into Friday morning.

UPDATE

Issued at 957 PM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

Dangerous cold continues this evening with the frequency of snow showers diminishing with time. There is another weak wave coming down from Canada that may bring additional flurries but the biggest threat will continue to be the -50 to -60 wind chills. As such, no major changes to the forecast here.

UPDATE Issued at 644 PM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

It is indeed dangerously cold. Wind chills across the region have fallen into the -40s and -50s and will continue to hover around there through the overnight hours. This will present a major risk for hypothermia for those caught out without adequate protection. Other than that, areas of light snow may continue to reduce visibility but will present a very limited impact in comparison to the wind chills. A light dusting is the most likely outcome of accumulations should any arise.

..Cold Through the Weekend

In the wake of the arctic front that barreled through last night, temperatures have went from cold to colder. Take the temperatures here at the WFO for example. At 6AM, we were at -9F, fell to -16F by 10AM, and have since stayed stuck at -17F. Wind chills vary from -35 in the south to -55 near the Canadian Border. There will be no improvement through the rest of the afternoon. Tonight into Friday morning will be the coldest period of this cold snap. Wind chill values of -45 to -60 are expected area wide. Thereafter, as the center of high pressure works through, winds will decrease. This will at least improve wind chill values midday Friday into Saturday morning. There will be a bit of a break in the worst of the cold weather Saturday afternoon, before the previously mentioned second high comes through to end the weekend. Temperatures will again fall, with Saturday night bringing extreme cold to those north of I-94 with wind chills as low as -50.

Therefore, we have went ahead and upgraded the extreme cold watch to an extreme cold warning for areas along and north of I-94 through Sunday at Noon. For areas to the south, the extreme cold warning remains in effect through 3PM Friday, thereafter converting to a cold weather advisory. While there will be a period Saturday afternoon where locations may briefly get above criteria, the main message is that it is cold, and a consistent headline through Sunday morning best tells that story. It should be noted that Sunday night looks to be another period where a cold weather headline of some sort will be needed. At this time, we did not issue anything to cover this considering it is day 3 into day 4 of the forecast, but it is something future shifts will need to determine.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 1104 PM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

The only aviation impact for the TAF period will be a brief chance to become MVFR at TVF and BJI overnight but everyone will be VFR after 12z. Flurries may accompany this brief period of MVFR ceilings but category impacts to visibility are unlikely at this time. Winds will generally remain light with no changes to direction.

FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

ND...Extreme Cold Warning until noon CST Sunday for NDZ006>008- 014>016-024-026>030-038-039-054. Extreme Cold Warning until 3 PM CST Friday for NDZ049-052-053. Cold Weather Advisory from 3 PM Friday to noon CST Sunday for NDZ049-052-053. MN...Extreme Cold Warning until noon CST Sunday for MNZ001>009- 013>017-022>024-027-028. Extreme Cold Warning until 3 PM CST Friday for MNZ029>032-040. Cold Weather Advisory from 3 PM Friday to noon CST Sunday for MNZ029>032-040.