Blizzard

The entire state of North Dakota experienced a blizzard from March 10-12, 2023, though the worst of it occurred on March 11. 7 to 14 inches came down through various parts of the state but the real problem was wind; it was often sustained wind speeds of above 30 mph with gusts up to 50. The result was giant snowdrifts packed hard. It still doesn’t compare in severity to the famous blizzard of March 2-5, 1966, when 20-30 inches fell across the state with wind gusts up to 70 mph creating snowdrifts as hight as 40 feet. While the March blizzard of 2023 (and March isn’t over yet!) was tame compared to 1966 it still essentially shut the state down.

ND DOT employee Bill Koch standing atop a snow drift up to the tops of railroad telegraph poles in the aftermath of the 1966 blizzard.

Photograph by Ernest Feland, collection of the North Dakota State Historical Society

My full time job is working for a railroad, and my employer, wanting to keep trains moving through the blizzard, provided hotel rooms in Minot, ND, so we could make it in to work since numerous roads were blocked with snowdrifts or closed by the state. In the middle of the blizzard I got bored sitting in the hotel room so I went for a walk around the area nearby.

Minot received somewhere around 13 inches of snow. I’m not sure how much had already fallen by the time I was out walking around but it was pretty deep. A few people were already at work cleaning up snow in driveways and parking lots. You’d expect the streets to be deserted but there was still a good amount of traffic driving around. I’m actually surprised just how busy the nearby Scheels sporting goods store was, not even a blizzard can stop American consumerism.

After a few hours of wandering around the snow-filled streets I had enough excitement and went back to the hotel. Several coworkers also stuck at the hotel had a game of pinochle going and I sat in with them. There were plenty of stories heard from other guys who had already been working out in the blizzard, it was much better to be inside playing cards and watching people in two-wheel drive vehicles try to get through the snow-filled parking lot (“If they can’t even get out of the parking lot where do they think they’re going to get out on the streets?”). After three days gone I finally made it home to my own mess of snow, a four foot drift blocking the doors into my house.

North Dakota always seems to generate a big blizzard in March right before the weather breaks towards spring, hopefully this is it! But, there’s still a long time left before spring on the northern Plains…

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