Red River Valley gets hit with snow
Fargo sees 1.5 inches
GRAND FORKS, N.D. — The northern Red River Valley got another dose of winter, courtesy of a weekend storm that dumped up to 10 inches of snow in some areas.
Erik Marquette put in a 13-hour day Sunday, pulling vehicles out of ditches around Grand Forks.
“ It thawed for awhile today, then at 4, 5 o’clock, it started to freeze, and now it’s just sheer ice,” Marquette said at about 9 p.m., while pulling a vehicle out of the ditch on Interstate 29 near Manvel, north of Grand Forks. “It’s just crazy out here.”
No serious injuries were reported, and most accidents involved vehicles sliding into ditches with little or no damage, Marquette said.
Park River got 10 inches of snow over the weekend. Drayton and McVille each reported 8 inches, Grand Forks about 6 inches and Pembina 5 inches.
The Fargo area reported about 1 1/2 inches and Wahpeton about half an inch.
A relatively narrow band from Cooperstown to Park River and up to Hallock, Minn., saw the most snow, from 6 inches to 10 inches, National Weather Service meteorologist Al Voelker said.
Through Saturday, the average daily temperature this month in Grand Forks was 20.9 degrees above zero, which was 16 degrees above the normal average for the same period, Voelker said. It appears to be the warmest start to a year in the region’s history, he said.
Voelker sees no clear sign of any deep cold trend coming next month.
Marquette, who is in his second year driving a tow truck for DeMers Interstate Amoco, said Sunday was a rare busy day this winter.
“ We have been waiting for this,” he said. “It’s been very slow this winter.”
Jane McCann, a dispatcher for Interstate Towing, said she had two tow trucks kept busy all day.
“ We have been steadily pulling cars out of the ditch,” she said Sunday.
The state forecast could bring more problems for drivers. It called for freezing rain Monday night and Tuesday, with lows in the 20s and highs in the 20s and low 40s.