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It's common to hear "snowmageddons" in the Northeast like it's a big deal yet I hear nothing about North Dakota or Alaska having such a thing when that area should have more of such thing. Am I wrong? Is "snowmaggedon" the norm in North Dakota which is why it isn't even talked about like it's a big deal?
I live in the Northeast and had lived in Chicago, even Chicago lacked much snow, just wind and cold.
Winters can be severe, but the reason you don't hear about blizzards here is because you're not talking about major cities shutting down. It's also because the South and Northeast are the only regions the Weather Channel knows exists.
As one who forecasts for the Red River valley region.... we simply dont have the moisture source (the ocean and Gulf Stream) nearby like the East Coast does .. thus getting storms with more than a foot of snow is not common. You can expect a storm or maybe two a winter with 6-12 and every so often get a big one with 12+.
The main difference here is while we dont get the heavy snow amounts... our snows are drier and our flat land and less trees/cities will bring a much higher risk of blizzards....white out conditions... from blowing snow. Often our worst blizzards can come on the heels of an arctic front dropping south....giving an inch or two of fluff....then followed by north winds of 30-50 mph and temps falling well below zero. As a result ... getting stranded in our blizzards/storms can be more deadly than out east.
Early or late winter are normally the only time the atmosphere has enough moisture to drop a foot or more of snow, usually. Nov -early Dec and late Feb-March. There has been a few very nasty storm in the dead of winter, but they occur rarely. OTOH, blizzards some years can be very common, but those are often just blowing recycled snow with a little new stuff.
I am from Michigan and we get really bad snow storms there too. Here in North Dakota, not so much. It gets cold and windy so what little snow there is just blows around. My first winter here was the 2010-2011 winter and I spent the whole winter waiting for all this snow to fall because I thought North Dakota got tons of snow, well spring came and everyone started saying it was one of the worst winters for snowfall and I was like what???? It was about an average Michigan winter snow fall.
As other have said, it's generally too dry for East Coast type Snowmageddons. But, it's not like there can't be big storms. And, at least when I was growing up in west central MN, about 50 miles from ND, winter was a real test of will because you'd get 1-6 inches of snow many times per year in addition to one or two big snow events and it would never completely melt before the next snow (until spring), so it would build up and up and blow around. That's why I always remember the MN of my youth being so snowy - the build up, consistent ground cover, and blowing. Over the past 15 or so years there's been more overall warm winters with limited or far below average snow than there ever was when I lived there for the first 18 years of my life.
What year was the 100+ inches of snow followed by the severe Red River flooding? 1996-97?
"Snowmageddons" are not defined by amount of snow, but by number of people affected by snow.
10 feet of snow falls in remote northwestern North Dakota, affecting 3,000, not Snowmageddon.
3 feet of snow falls on New York City metro affecting 18 million, yes, Snowmageddon.
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