Power Outage in Elgin, ND

A National Weather Service storm survey confirmed that an EF2 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale touched down eight miles south-southwest of Elgin, then moved northeast before lifting 3 miles south-southeast of Elgin. No fewer than four farmsteads were damaged along the path of the tornado. The worst damage occurred six miles south-southwest of Elgin, where the tornado was nearly one half of a mile wide, damaging every building on a farmstead and completely destroying the smaller buildings. Damage also occurred to trees, vehicles, and power poles. The damage surveyed corresponded to EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. From that it was determined that wind speeds were on the order of around 120 miles per hour.||Farther north-northeast, three other farmsteads sustained tornado damage. Damage on the first two farmsteads north-northeast of the worst damage was consistent with an EF1 tornado. The farthest north farmstead had damage consistent with an EF0 tornado. ||There were no injuries or fatalities with this tornado.

Six to ten inches of heavy wet snow and sleet fell across Grant County. The combination of strong winds and the wet snow resulted in widespread damages to electrical utilities, causing massive power outages across the county. In some areas it took anywhere from several days to several weeks to restore power. Preliminary damage assessments estimated there was around eleven million dollars in damage from this storm for Grant County.

Wind gusts up to near 50 mph combined with falling snow and existing loose snow cover to create widespread blizzard conditions across Grant County. The strong winds and blizzard conditions resulted in additional downed power lines and delayed the repair of existing downed power lines. The total estimated damage from this storm (January 18th through January 25th) was over one million dollars.

A wintry mix of freezing rain, sleet, and snow spread north across the local area. Precipitation eventually changed over to all snow, with up to four inches of accumulations reported by early Saturday morning. Hazardous travel conditions and continued power outages resulted.

A prolonged period of freezing fog along with periods of freezing drizzle resulted in moderate to heavy ice accumulations on power lines. This caused numerous overhead power lines and power poles to snap, resulting in widespread power outages across the county which lasted for several days in some areas.

Moderate to heavy snow accompanied by strong northwest winds resulted in widespread blizzard conditions. Power outages were reported in rural areas of the county during the storm.

Snowfall amounts by Friday morning ranged from six to eighteen inches across Grant County, with the heaviest snowfall occurring over western portions of the county. The city of Elgin reported a storm total of 18 inches along with snow drifts four feet high. Sustained wind speeds of 30 to 40 mph, and gusts to 50 mph, combined with the snow Wednesday evening through Thursday night to create widespread and prolonged blizzard conditions. Roads were closed or no travel was advised due to these conditions. Most schools and businesses were closed Thursday and Friday. ||In addition, patchy power outages from downed power lines were reported due to the combination of freezing rain and heavy wet snow. At the peak of the storm, 600 homes and businesses were without power across Grant and Sioux Counties. Power was eventually restored to all residents by Sunday.