textproduct: Grand Forks

KEY MESSAGES

- Dangerously cold wind chills 40 below to 60 below zero today through Friday at noon. As winds lighten up Friday afternoon into the weekend, wind chills will be 30 below to 45 below zero.

UPDATE

Issued at 1154 AM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

Decided to up the start time of the Extreme Cold Warning to now, as wind chills nearly everywhere are reaching criteria. Wind chills will hold in the -35 to -50 through the afternoon, before falling further this evening into the overnight.

UPDATE Issued at 1008 AM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

Very cold this morning, with temperature readings now in the -20's along the International Border. Wind chill values have nosedived as well, with values as cold as -55 north of Highway 2. Breezy north to northwest winds have also resulted in areas of blowing snow. Visibility reductions are not as severe or widespread as we saw yesterday, but visibility has fairly consistently been in the 1 to 5 mile range. There are times, especially in the Hallock to Crookston corridor when visibility drops under a half or even a quarter of a mile, but this seems localized. Updated headlines were sent, and our focus this afternoon will be on how to handle cold weather headlines through the weekend.

UPDATE Issued at 537 AM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

Expanded the chance of flurries today to all areas thru 23z. Mostly ice crystals than anything. Variable sky with pockets of stratocu in the cold airmass moving in then clearing patches. Overall temps, wind following forecast pretty well so no significant updates to be made to the ongoing fcst.

..Very Cold into the Weekend

A secondary cold front is moving thru the area early this morning with a wind shift from west-southwest to more northwest-north. Core of the cold air upstream will be over the area this afternoon into Friday morning as high pressure slides thru southwest Saskatchewan and into northwest North Dakota during this period. Enough wind today (15-25 kts) to bring areas of blowing snow, mostly low level stuff blowing across the road, today and with the wind and falling temperatures today wind chills will lower significantly reaching the colder than 40 below in most areas late today and holding in the 45 below to 55 below zero range tonight into Friday midday. Winds lighten up Friday as high is just west/southwest of us, thus wind chills not as cold and look to hover in the 30 below to 45 below zero range Friday afternoon into Saturday morning.

Focus though of the cold and impacts are today thru noon Friday. Consensus of the NWS office that still had extreme cold watch was to leave watch in place as not clear yet where advisory vs warning would be 18z Fri-18z Sat period.

Did have flurries mentioned today, probably more like ice crystals, as will have partial sunshine with likely thin stratocu developing and moving thru. Sunnier Friday.

Temps below normal this weekend with highs not reaching above zero til Monday. Winds while not strong, will be enough esp at night to bring low wind chills into the advisory or possibly warning impact range.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z FRIDAY/

Issued at 1154 AM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

Variable conditions through this afternoon, with snow showers and blowing snow causing ceiling and visibility reductions. Generally, visibility will stay MVFR to IFR with ceilings MVFR. While there will be light snow, it will not prevail, so used PROB30s at most sites to account for this potential over the next four hours. After sunset, ceilings should rise, winds will decrease, and as a result, visibility will improve. There is a low chance, especially at KBJI for MVFR ceilings late tonight into Friday morning. Predictability is too low at this time to include in the TAF, put added in a SCT030 deck to account for this potential.

FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

ND...Extreme Cold Warning until noon CST Friday for NDZ006>008- 014>016-024-026>030-038-039-049-052>054. Extreme Cold Watch from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning for NDZ006>008-014>016-024-026>030-038-039-049- 052>054. MN...Extreme Cold Warning until noon CST Friday for MNZ001>009- 013>017-022>024-027>032-040. Extreme Cold Watch from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning for MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040.