Power Outage in Oakes, ND

Freezing rain developed over Dickey County, where over a half-inch of liquid precipitation fell in freezing temperatures, with only two inches of snow on the back side of the system. This led to damaged power lines and poles, particularly over the eastern part of the county. Over 150 meters were without power at one point due to the damaged lines and poles.

Extensive damage occurred throughout the city of Ellendale and surrounding areas. In Ellendale, many hardwood trees were snapped and others were uprooted, some falling onto homes. A home had almost all the shingles and much of the sheathing torn off the roof, and the garage door was collapsed inward. Some power poles were broken in town, and several power service lines to homes were torn. South of Ellendale to the South Dakota state line, multiple power poles were snapped. At the Ellendale Cemetery, multiple hardwood and softwood trees were snapped and others were uprooted. In parts of Ellendale, ping pong ball size hail accompanied the storm.

Multiple days of freezing fog led to rime ice accumulation on power lines in Dickey and LaMoure counties. Approximately 1,300 services in total between the two counties experienced outages. Six power poles, in total, were broken, and some substations went down due to transmission line outages.

Multiple trees and at least one power pole blew down in the city of Ellendale.

Locations near Fullerton received nine inches of snow. Multiple crops were unharvested across Dickey County, with losses mainly to soybeans. Multiple power lines and poles were damaged, particularly over eastern parts of the county.

Two power poles were snapped, and crops were shredded and destroyed.

Ice accumulation caused multiple power poles to snap throughout the county. Near one wind farm, 64 double poles supporting the feeder line were snapped in a three mile stretch. Repairs for this continued as of the end of February 2017. Communication towers were taken down, with the county repeater still remaining out of service as of the end of February. The power cooperative that serves the county lost 300 poles and multiple lines affecting 1200 meter-services throughout their coverage area which includes the southern James River Valley of North Dakota. Some secondary feed poles and wires were still in need of repair as of late February 2017.

Wind gusts up to near 50 mph combined with falling snow and existing loose snow cover to create widespread blizzard conditions across Dickey County. The strong winds and blizzard conditions resulted in additional downed power lines and delayed the repair of existing downed power lines.

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 three inches of accumulations reported by Saturday morning. Hazardous travel conditions and scattered power outages resulted.

Multiple days of dense fog combined with below freezing temperatures led to rime ice forming on power lines over portions of south central North Dakota into the southern James River Valley. Many power lines had rime ice accumulations of over three inches diameter, which led to lines sagging and some snapping. This included not only distribution lines, but also main transmission lines which feed power to substations. Approximately 2,000 electric customers suffered power outages, with some outages lasting a couple of days. Through the event, linemen were repairing snapped lines and manually clearing ice off the lines to prevent further breakage. In addition, 14 wooden power poles were broken from the weight of the ice covered lines.

A low pressure system lifting from the Central Plains into the Upper Midwest led to snow developing over eastern and parts of central North Dakota. The heaviest snow occurred over the lower James River Valley into east-central and northeast North Dakota. The storm occurred while many crops were unharvested, which led to crop losses, particularly soybeans. Also, the heavy wet snow led to damaged power lines and broken power poles, with around 200 services loosing power for an extended period of time in rural areas, and periodic short-term outages in towns. Snow totals were nine to 11 inches.

Light freezing rain iced area roads before changing to snow during the day as colder air rushed in. Snowfall was in the 3 to 5 inch range. The wind gusted to 40 mph. At the height of the storm blizzard-like conditions existed with visibility near zero. Schools were closed in LaMoure County and there were power outages in Dickey County. No travel was advised in Dickey County. Although snowfall was not significant, the combination of freezing rain, snow, low visibility in blowing snow, and power outages, resulted in a major disruption. Conditions began to improve during the evening as the wind decreased in speed.