Wind Chills Below Zero | North Dakota Weather

Good morning! I'm Aaron Jolly. And welcome to the North Dakota Weather Podcast — it's Monday, February 23rd. If you stepped outside this morning, you felt that minus 7 slap you awake. Eastern North Dakota? Even colder at minus 10. But here's where it gets weird. Central North Dakota is about to rocket from minus 1 to 30 degrees by this afternoon. That's a 30-degree climb before lunch. Meanwhile, the east stays stuck at 18 degrees all day. Tonight's when things get messy. A low pressure system barrels in from the Canadian Rockies with rain, snow. And wind. Yes, I said rain in February. Northern North Dakota sees snow from midnight to 5 A.M, peaking around 3 A.M. Patchy blowing snow follows by morning. Central North Dakota gets rain from 2 A.M to 5 A.M, then flips to snow. Roads go from wet to icy fast. Eastern North Dakota catches a brief snow window around 4 A.M, but the real story is wind. Gusts hit 44 miles an hour by Tuesday morning. And that wind? It's not done. Parts of the state could see gusts near 50 miles an hour by sunrise Tuesday. That's the kind of wind that turns loose snow into a whiteout wall. If you're traveling tonight or early Tuesday, expect rapidly changing conditions. Roads could be wet, icy, then snow-covered in just hours. Here's your week ahead. Tuesday stays windy and cold with highs in the 20s and low 30s. Wednesday brings light snow and temps in the 20s and 30s. Thursday warms up beautifully — 38 in the east, 46 in central North Dakota. But Friday? Another cold front moves in. And next weekend? Arctic air returns with highs struggling to hit 10 degrees in some spots. Winter's not done fighting. Charge your phone before bed. You'll want it for road updates. That's your forecast — we'll be back tomorrow.