Power Outage in Fargo, ND

A newspaper reporter relayed a report of damage from thunderstorm wind gusts to power lines and a barn structure 1.5 miles west of Casselton ND. Time estimated from radar.

Power outages were reported around central Fargo. Report was relayed via broadcast media.

Power poles were reported as blown down to the south of Wild Rice.

Near the intersection of Cass County 16 and U. S. Highway 81 south of Wild Rice, large trees and several power poles were snapped at the base. A pole shed was also blown down. Peak winds were estimated at 90 mph.

Large tree branches and power lines were blown down.

Multiple power lines were toppled in north Fargo.

Three power poles were blown down.

Numerous tree branches were blown down with sporadic power outages.

Strong winds blew tree branches down onto power lines, resulting in sporadic power outages.

Power poles were broken and small trees were snapped in south Fargo.

A high voltage electrical tower was bent over by extreme downburst winds. Numerous wooden power poles were snapped and trees were damaged in the area.

Large branches and power lines were blown down at a farmstead.

Tree damage and power outages were reported around the Northport area of north Fargo.

Large trees and fences were blown down all over West Fargo. Power outages were also reported.

The wind knocked down a medium sized tree across 6th Street and 1st Avenue North. Power lines were also blown down around town.

This tornado yanked one aluminum high voltage power tower out of its steel footings and toppled several others. It snapped off mature oak and ash trees near the Maple River and snapped several wooden power poles at multiple road crossings across its path. The tornado continued into Ransom County, where it dissipated at 640 pm CST. Peak winds were estimated at 105 mph.

The tornado toppled a barn, severely injuring a horse. It tumbled farm outbuildings and toppled one high voltage power tower. The tower was made of steel and had four footings. Peak winds were estimated at 125 mph.

A two mile section of aluminum high voltage power towers were crumpled by downburst winds and at least one tornado. The nine towers were operated by Minnkota Power Cooperative. Wind speeds likely exceeded 100 miles per hour based on utility company estimates. Extensive crop damage occurred across the Highland and Watson Townships.

The tornado plowed through wooden power poles and viciously ripped up mature trees over its damage path. The tornado also damaged a sturdy pole shed, where the sidewall was caved in and the roof and rafters were torn off. It tore the roof off and collapsed an older barn, then lifted and threw a well-built two car garage from its slab foundation. The tornado crumpled one steel, four footing, high voltage power tower. In combination with extreme downburst winds, the collapse of this first tower helped initiate the collapse of dozens more of these power towers. Peak winds were estimated at 130 mph.

The wind gust was measured by the ASOS at Hector International Airport in Fargo. Many trees and tree branches were blown down in the Fargo/Moorhead area, causing power outages for about 6000 customers. The town of Arthur, northwest of Fargo, also reported trees and large branches down.

Power poles and tree tops were broken a mile south of Fargo.

Trees fell on power lines, knocking out power to 3,180 customers for about 90 minutes.

Trees were blown down onto homes and powerlines, cutting power to the town. A machine shed had its walls blown out.

A series of training thunderstorms brought heavy rain to the Fargo area. A total of 6.82 inches was reported at the ASOS site at the Fargo airport. 7.31 inches was reported by the official observer in north Moorhead. This is believed to be a new 24 hour rainfall record for the Fargo-Moorhead area. The heavy rain halted traffic, inundated storm sewers, and knocked out electricity and phones. 20,000 customers lost power when a power station was submerged. This knocked out power to those customers with sump pumps. A state of emergency was declared in the city at 3 am. At one point, 50 percent of the city streets were flooded. The major traffic arteries, Interstates 29 and 94, were flooded and closed for several days. The Fargodome sustained major damage when flooding along 19th Avenue North overflowed into th e parking lot and into the lower level of the building. 8 to 12 feet of water, roughly 51.8 million gallons, filled the bottom level. This was up to the first row of seats. There was an unconfirmed report of a man injured from a flying manhole cover that blew out from the force of the sewer line backup. Damage was particularly high at North Dakota State University, where nearly all 88 buildings took on water. Four feet of water in the campus library damaged the periodical section. The telephone and internet services for the campus was also disrupted. 54 percent of the residences in the city of Fargo had water damage.

By the early afternoon of Thursday, October 10th, surface low pressure was located near Wadena, Minnesota. A stationary boundary extended northward from the low, up toward Baudette, Minnesota. As a result, there were wide temperature differences across the area, with low 50s along the stationary boundary to the lower 30s from Devils Lake to Jamestown. Steady snow fell west of the Red River Valley, while rain or mixed precipitation fell along and east of the Red River Valley. As the low slowly moved toward north central Minnesota by Friday morning, winds turned to the northwest along and west of the Red River Valley, and temperatures dropped to around or below 32 degrees. East of the Red River Valley, winds stayed southwest with temperatures holding in the low to mid 30s. Therefore, snow became the predominant precipitation type for all areas except around the Lake of the Woods region, where it remained rain or mixed precipitation. For the rest of Friday into early Saturday, the low actually spun back westward, or back into northwest Minnesota. This kept steady snow over most of the area, but the least from the Lake of the Woods region to Bemidji to Wadena. As far as storm totals (covering from the 10th to the 12th), areas just west of the Red River Valley into the Devils Lake region had the most snow, up to 30 inches in spots. The Forman to Fargo to Grand Forks to Hallock corridor picked up 1 to 2 inches of rainfall before it turned to snow. Because of this initial rain, snow totals were lower, but this corridor still managed to get 4 to 24 inches of snow, with some mixed precipitation as well. This had huge impacts on the area, including tree damage, power outages, river flooding, and basement flooding.

A Colorado Low tracked into the Central Plains during the evening of Wednesday, March 13th, with an inverted trough extending northward along the Red River of the North. To the east of the trough, temperatures ranged in the middle 30s. Along the trough in the Red River Valley, temperatures ranged either side of 32 degrees. To the west of the Red River Valley, temperatures held in the mid to upper 20s. North winds became quite gusty during the early morning hours of Thursday, March 14th, and remained that way through the day, as the low pushed into the Great Lakes. Gusts up to 60 mph were recorded. Snowfall totals of 6 to 9 inches were reported over most of eastern North Dakota into far northwest Minnesota, with the exception of the Fargo-Moorhead to Wahpeton-Breckenridge corridor, which received more rain than snow. The combination of snow and wind resulted in whiteout conditions in open country and huge drifts of snow. This blizzard produced the greatest impacts of any of the numerous 2018-19 blizzards. Flights were cancelled at the Fargo and Grand Forks airports and many schools were closed on the 14th, and even the 15th. Interstate 29 was closed from Fargo to the Canadian border and Interstate 94 was closed from Bismarck to Fargo. Many other roads across the eastern half of North Dakota were closed and remained that way into the 15th before they could be cleared. Some motorists who tried to travel on these roads got stuck and had to be rescued. Ice accumulated on some power lines, and when the winds hit, they galloped, causing sporadic power outages.

A strong early October low pressure system tracked north-northeast through the western high plains into southern Manitoba, with a tight surface pressure gradient to its east. As clearing spread into eastern North Dakota and portions of northwest Minnesota on the 7th, very strong wind gusts mixed down to the surface. Many stations experienced sustained winds around 40 mph or wind gusts greater than 58 mph. The highest wind gust was 71 mph, which was reported near Northwood, North Dakota and Euclid, Minnesota. The strong winds resulted in many downed trees, scattered power outages, and minor shingle damage to homes.

As the storm system responsible for the winter storm on the 29th and 30th started to intensify, a surface low pressure system lifted from eastern Nebraska at noon on the 30th and tracked to near Duluth, Minnesota, by midnight. Blizzard conditions developed across portions of southeast North Dakota and west central Minnesota, which had just picked up the 4 to 12 inches of fresh snow. The storm had wide effects on the region, first and foremost on transportation. Interstate 94 was shut down from Jamestown to Alexandria, U. S. Highway 10 was closed from Moorhead to Detroit Lakes, and U. S. Highway 2 was closed from East Grand Forks to Crookston. A 100 car pileup occurred along Interstate 94 west of Fargo, resulting in one death and several injuries. The death was indirect and resulted when a man left his vehicle to help others. All the vehicles involved in the pileup had to wait in their vehicles until rescuers could reach them. Power was also knocked out to several towns in southeast North Dakota.

As a powerful storm system crashed into the west coast and desert southwest, a warm, moist feed of air moved into the northern plains. Temperatures stayed unseasonably mild, in the low to mid 30s, from the 22nd into the morning of the 23rd. This brought a variety of winter weather precipitation forms to eastern North Dakota, including rain, sleet, freezing rain, and snow. Up to a quarter inch of ice accumulated in areas, followed by a wet, slushy snow with low visibilities. This made travel very hazardous in places.

A potent surface low pressure system moved out of Colorado late Saturday (13th) and tracked northeast to the Minneapolis area by noon on Sunday (14th). This created a strong temperature gradient across the northern plains, with Devils Lake (ND) at 15 below zero and the Minneapolis (MN) area around 30 above by noon Sunday. As the system intensified over eastern Minnesota, northwest winds began to gust to around 50 mph with wind chills colder than 40 below zero. Quite a bit of snow also accompanied the wind, which created whiteout conditions for an extended period of time. A blizzard this bad had not been seen since the winter of 1996/97, so the impact on the area was tremendous. Stores closed for portions of the weekend during the busy holiday shopping season. Interstate 29 was closed in the state of North Dakota and Interstate 94 was closed from Jamestown (ND) to Alexandria (MN). No travel was advised across the area and commercial flights were cancelled into Fargo and Grand Forks. Church services, schools, and many other activities were cancelled or delayed. The town of Buffalo, ND, lost power for around 8 hours. There were other minor power outages across the area as well.

After the ground blizzard conditions that affected eastern North Dakota during the day (9th), dangerous wind chills of 40 below to 50 below zero developed. By the morning of the 10th, temperatures alone dropped to 20 below to 30 below zero. Surface high pressure moved over the area by noon, allowing wind speeds to fall below 10 mph. Power was lost in the St. Thomas, Crystal, Edinburg, and Hoople areas around 4 am CST (10th). By the time it was restored around 745 am CST, residents reported that the temperatures inside their homes had fallen to around 60 degrees.

An area of surface low pressure took shape over southeast Montana on tuesday morning (11-8-05). The low tracked east into north central South Dakota, shifted northeast toward Grand Forks, ND, before finally exiting into southwest Ontario. The low, which began at 1006 mb in southeast Montana, rapidly deepened as it moved from Grand Forks into southwest Ontario. By wednesday morning (11-9-05), the low had deepened to 988 mb. With the rapidly deepening surface low pressure system, northwest winds also became quite strong once the low passed into Canada. Tree branches were knocked onto wires in the Fargo-Moorhead area, causing some brief power outages. Garbage cans, lawn furnature, and debris were blown around all across the area. A tree fell on a house in Bemidji, while other fallen trees caused sporadic power outages across northwest Minnesota.

A "hybrid" surface low pressure system moved nearly straight east across the northern plains. It tracked across northern South Dakota to Aberdeen, then toward Bemidji (MN) and Duluth. A strong thermal gradient developed during the day on thursday (30th), with highs from around 20 near Cando, ND, to around 40 from Forman, ND, to Parkers Prairie, MN. An area of rain over eastern South Dakota moved into southeast North Dakota and west central Minnesota and fell as freezing rain. A good quarter to half inch of ice accumulated across the area. As temperatures rose to the melting point or above by thursday afternoon, some of the ice melted. This prevented widespread power outages and major travel problems. Even so, quite a few accidents were reported. As the low pressure system moved east, temperatures fell thursday night. Any slush or wet spots quickly froze, making travel hazardous once again. In Fargo, over 24 accidents were reported. City bus service was halted and 4 flights were cancelled at Hector International Airport. Three people were treated at emergency rooms due to falls. Many semi trucks were also reported in the ditch along Interstate 29.

Collapsing high-based showers brought some gusty winds to the surface. Five West Fargo schools lost power in the morning until about the noon hour. Damage also occurred at Bonanzaville in West Fargo, where windows were broken and siding and shingles were torn off. In Fargo, several trees were toppled, and one fell on a house. Several power poles were also broken in Fargo, causing power outages to about 400 residents. At the Fargo main avenue bridge reconstruction project, a protective wood canopy was ripped off. The wind also picked up dirt from the freshly planted fields and caused blackout conditions. Local farmers reported drifts of dirt in ditches around the area.

Arctic high pressure built into the northern plains in the wake of the January 24th-26th snowstorm, which dropped heavy snow over all of eastern North Dakota. With subzero temperatures and wind speeds of 10 to 20 mph, wind chills dropped to 40 below to 65 below zero on the afternoon of the 27th. Therefore, a wind chill warning was issued from the afternoon of the 27th through the afternoon of the 28th. Wind speeds dropped off enough that the wind chill warning was not extended beyond the afternoon of the 28th. However, with the arctic high pressure over the area, cold temperatures abounded. On the morning of the 26th, both Cando and Crary reported low temperatures of 28 below zero. On the morning of the 27th, Mayville reported a low temperature of 36 below. Fargo and Grand Forks both set record lows at 31 below. On the morning of the 28th, Cando reported a low temperature of 39 below. Baker, Crary, Michigan, and Mayville all reported morning lows of 38 below. Devils Lake set a record low of 36 below and the Grand Forks International Airport set a record low of 37 below. On the morning of the 29th, Walhalla dipped to 42 below and Mayville dropped to 41 below. A record low of 40 below was set at the Grand Forks International Airport. An all-time record low temperature (since 1941) was set at the Grand Forks International Airport on the 30th, when the temperature fell to 43 degrees below zero. Record lows were also set at the city of Grand Forks, at 39 below, and at Fargo, at 36 below. Also on the 30th, the temperature at Mayville fell to 45 below and Walhalla fell to 43 below. An unofficial thermometer along the Pembina River in the Pembina Gorge reportedly fell to 60 below. On the morning of the 31st, Hillsboro and St. Thomas dipped to 30 below. Auto repair shops were kept busy jumping cars, installing block heaters, repairing flat tires, and working on batteries and spark plugs. One case of frostbite was reported at Altru Hospital in Grand Forks. A Grand Forks housing complex had heat generation problems due to the severe cold, causing indoor temperatures to fall to the 50s. Many of its residents slept elsewhere until its heating system was fixed. 400 north Fargo residents lost power for 3 hours on the morning of the 30th, when a powerline burned down.

An early season storm dropped 4 to 12 inches of snow across the area. The storm intensified over northwest Minnesota, keeping the heaviest snowfall across northeast North Dakota. Nearly a foot of snow fell from Devils Lake to Cavalier to Grand Forks. 10.9 inches of snow fell at the NWS office in Grand Forks, an unofficial record snowfall for the month of October. As the low started to move away from the area, northwest winds gusted up to 40 mph. Many schools closed during the event and nearly 1300 people lost power. 400 vehicles were stranded along Interstate 29 between Thompson and Grand Forks after a semi truck jack-knifed and blocked the road. Interstate 94 was also blocked near Tower City for nearly 2 hours by the snow and stalled vehicles. Three people were killed in vehicle accidents just outside the warning area, most due to ice covered roads. One accident occurred near Christine, another east of Lisbon, and the third near Jamestown. Flights were cancelled at the Fargo and Grand Forks airports. The heavy wet snow that fell first caused most snowblowers to clog with snow. The emergency room in Grand Forks reported many injuries due to people trying to unclog their snowblowers with their hands or feet.

Heat indices topped out from 115 to 125, with temperatures in the 90s and dew points around 80. The temperature in Lisbon reached 102 degrees on the afternoon of the 4th. Several power outages occurred in Fargo due to overloaded circuits.

A strong low pressure system moved along the Canadian border, with a tight pressure gradient behind it. The strongest winds were along the southwest flank of the low, generally south of a line from Devils Lake, North Dakota, to Park Rapids, Minnesota. Many trees were blown down, several buildings were damaged, and localized power outages were reported. Most of the property damage was reported in the Lisbon area.

As cold air filtered south out of Canada, the freezing precipitation changed over to snow. With the gusty north winds, blizzard conditions quickly developed. Many travellers along Interstates 29 and 94 encountered whiteout conditions, some ending up in the ditch. Soon after, I-29 was closed from Hillsboro to the South Dakota border and I-94 was closed from Jamestown to Fargo. Several schools, the West Acres Mall in Fargo, and Hector International Airport in Fargo, closed for the afternoon. Parts of Horace, Hickson, Kindred, and Oxbow lost power. 3 to 5 inches of snow was reported across the area during the event.