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Very true about snowfall....it isnt the amount but that it stays cold all winter long in most of the state so that the snowpack just keeps building (esp north and east parts of the state). And add the wind and open prairie you get a lot of "out of town" blizzards when the winds whips up the snow on the ground and causes white outs. This makes commuting from out of town into larger cities hard to do in the winter months.
Yesterday we had a snowstorm and I was at work and my boss, being from ND, didn't let anyone go early because hey it's just snow and we're in ND, right? Well, after work I was driving home in snow that looked like fog. I couldn't even see the back of the car in front of me unless I was right up on him. Also, they hadn't plowed the roads even though it was 5pm and it had been snowing since early that morning. I think they would have at least plowed a little to make it slightly more drivable, but nope. The highway was covered in snow, there was just a tiny patch wide enough for one car. The sky was grey, the ground was covered in snow and you couldn't see anything, it was disorienting. The wind was also blowing the snow around so huge snow banks would pile up on the sides of the road. And, even though that was yesterday, here it is 24 hours later, stopped snowing, and the roads still aren't clear. Wind makes everything worse but so does the city taking forever to plow. I almost got stuck in a parking lot because all the snow that was piled up there! The wind also makes it impossible to tell how much snow is actually on the ground...I have an 8 foot snow bank in my yard but my sidewalk only has a couple inches covering it. I wouldn't say it's impossible to get through just really, really annoying and makes driving dangerous.
I get a kick out of this thread title. "In ND when clearing the road...."
My friend is driving truck out of Williston. He's back home for the holidays and he said, "They don't clear roads around Williston. They just run up and down the roads looking for big drifts."
I get a kick out of this thread title. "In ND when clearing the road...."
My friend is driving truck out of Williston. He's back home for the holidays and he said, "They don't clear roads around Williston. They just run up and down the roads looking for big drifts."
Pretty sure it's just sand in Minot. By the end of the winter, the entire city is a muddy, brown mess. It takes most of the spring for the dirt to wash away and for everything to look "clean" again.
Interesting that Minot is slow to plow. I've been impressed by Bismarck's snow clearing efforts. Here's an excerpt from an article in the Bismarck Tribune a couple of days ago when we got five inches of snow:
"The Bismarck street department planned to begin plowing snow emergency routes and major arterial streets by 2:30 p.m. Monday. Crews planned to plow school routes and residential streets by midnight, then continue to plow until all streets are cleared. People are asked to move vehicles off the street and keep them off the street until the plows are finished in the area. Crews normally finish plowing the entire city within 48 hours, the street department said."
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