textproduct: Grand Forks

KEY MESSAGES

- Dangerously cold wind chills of 40 below to 60 below are expected Thursday into the weekend.

UPDATE

Issued at 944 PM CST Wed Jan 21 2026

Light snow continues this evening with observations showing generally 1-4 mile visibilities, so travel impacts are limited. The cold front remains north of the International Border and will be sliding down over the next several hours bringing the blast of arctic air over the next several hours.

UPDATE Issued at 638 PM CST Wed Jan 21 2026

Snow showers will continue to diminish this evening, although flurries and lighter snow will continue to linger beneath persistent areas of stratus. The timing for frontal passage for significant cold air remains on track this evening with dangerous wind chills expected to come in behind the front after 3 AM.

..Extreme cold Thursday into the weekend

With the arctic front and 1050mb high coming down, extremely cold air will settle in across the region. Probabilities of apparent temperatures at -40 or lower are near 100 percent by the end of the day tomorrow. The ECMWF EFI shows a very strong cold signal for the next few days into the weekend. Kept the ongoing warning/advisory headlines late tonight into tomorrow morning for a transition period, then have all counties in the extreme cold by the end of the day Thursday into Friday morning. Some question of how winds will behave later Friday night and into the weekend. Thus, just went extreme cold warning through mid- day on Friday and kept the watch going after that.

AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z FRIDAY/

Issued at 523 PM CST Wed Jan 21 2026

VFR to MVFR conditions will prevail for the TAF period, largely dependent on cloud coverage over TAF sites. As a result, there is high uncertainty in flight conditions for the TAF period. What is known is that snow showers will continue this evening to periodically reduce visibility to IFR/LIFR at times with ceilings remaining MVFR beneath them. These will become less frequent overnight tonight. A front will push southward through the overnight hours, increasing winds modestly behind it and keeping them steady state through the end of the TAF period. Additional snow showers are possible behind this front tomorrow however the spatial extent creates too much uncertainty to add to the TAF at this time.

FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

ND...Extreme Cold Warning from 3 AM Thursday to noon CST Friday for NDZ006>008-014>016-024-026>030-054. Extreme Cold Watch from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning for NDZ006>008-014>016-024-026>030-038-039-049- 052>054. Cold Weather Advisory from 3 AM to noon CST Thursday for NDZ038-039. Extreme Cold Warning from noon Thursday to noon CST Friday for NDZ038-039-049-052-053. MN...Extreme Cold Warning from 3 AM Thursday to noon CST Friday for MNZ001-002-004>009-013>017-022-023. Extreme Cold Watch from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning for MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040. Cold Weather Advisory from 3 AM to noon CST Thursday for MNZ003-024-027-028. Extreme Cold Warning from noon Thursday to noon CST Friday for MNZ003-024-027>032-040.