Weather Takes A Nasty Turn
After weeks of above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation, winter returned to North Dakota last week. High winds and snow came in on Thursday night and into Friday morning. Snow totals, while not high, were enough to cause drifting and white out conditions with the high winds.
Friday’s conditions led to late starts for many area schools. In Stanley, it also led to an early out on Friday afternoon. The Stanley FFA’s Donkey Basketball was postponed and is currently being rescheduled for late April.
The high winds and low visibility were also responsible for many accidents including this one that happened west of Stanley on Highway 2 between Ross and White Earth.
Emergency crews from Stanley responded to provide assistance for this accident. Stanley Fire Department helped to provide traffic control until the roadway was reopened.
At around 10:30 a.m., an empty, high-profile semi/trailer combination was blown over by wind west of Stanley on Highway 2 at mile marker 78. The driver fortunately sustained only minor injuries. Both lanes of travel were blocked until 2:20 p.m. as troopers and towing services were working to clear the incident. A no travel advisory was in effect that afternoon as visibility continued to get worse. Traffic was redirected to allow vehicles to continue to head west.
Snow and high winds contributed to travel challenges again on Sunday, Jan. 18. While travel alerts were issued throughout the day for much of western and central North Dakota, conditions during the day were at the worst in eastern North Dakota, leading to no travel advisories and the closure of I29 from Fargo to the Canadian border for much of the afternoon.