Please tell me about Oakes ND (Fargo, Grand Forks: daycare, live, agricultural)

[KatCooper]

Hi all. There is a possibilty that my family and I may relocate to Oakes. I have done research online, but there is not a lot of information. Does anyone on the board live there or nearby? I have heard very positive things from my recruiter but would love to have another opinion. I will visit Oakes the first of October, via Fargo. Is there anything I need to see/do on the drive ? I am from a very rural town in MS so "nothingness " doesn't bother me and we are tired of excessively hot humid summers and esentially no winter. Thanks in advance for any responses.
Kat

[DaninEGF]

Originally Posted by KatCooper

Hi all. There is a possibilty that my family and I may relocate to Oakes. I have done research online, but there is not a lot of information. Does anyone on the board live there or nearby? I have heard very positive things from my recruiter but would love to have another opinion. I will visit Oakes the first of October, via Fargo. Is there anything I need to see/do on the drive ? I am from a very rural town in MS so "nothingness " doesn't bother me and we are tired of excessively hot humid summers and esentially no winter. Thanks in advance for any responses.
Kat

I wish I could help you more than I can....but have been close to the area having been in the Forman and Sargent county area. Oakes is just west. But that whole area is I am sure you know is heavily agricultural and very typical small town ND. I havent seen any bad news on the town and it isnt prone to river flooding unlike many areas. It is not totally flat but has gentle rolling hills. Closest larger city would be Aberdeen SD just to the south.

I am in the weather business...so I can give you some weather info from the Oakes Cooperative weather station in terms of normals and extremes.

http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/cgi-bin/cli...ECtM.pl?nd6620
http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/cgi-bin/cli...CStT.pl?nd6620

Dan

[KatCooper]

Thanks for the information! The weather is one of my big concerns!

[DaninEGF]

Originally Posted by KatCooper

Thanks for the information! The weather is one of my big concerns!

The numbers I gave you are averages....so day to day it can vary greatly. Oakes weather is a bit more closely aligned with Aberdeen SD. I have been in the area for 11 winters...and in most winters you can expect to see a day or two with actual low temps close to 30 below. But usually those mornings are clear with very light winds. Blizzards...with strong north winds...can occur one or two times each year....but most times the wind and snow events are pretty light with a few inches of "fluff" and winds 10 to 20 mph. This will make for some hazardous driving conditions but not close down the road stuff. Typically you can expect to see snow from mid Nov to late March with varying amounts of snow on the ground from winter to winter. some winters can be more mild with many days in the 20s and 30s for highs while other winters can have several weeks when you may not see 10 above.
Daycare in Grand Forks dont let kids outside to play when the air temp is below 10 degrees and/or wind chill below zero. I think last year that was just about every day in January it seemed The Grand Forks area is one of the colder areas of the state however.

Any specific question fire away. I wish I knew more about the town itself.

You likely visited the city of Oakes web site....but in case not here is their list of things to do in the area.

Oakes North Dakota. The Small Town Experience You've Been Looking For.

Dan

[KatCooper]

Thanks for all the weather information!! I will find out about the town, personally, next week. I am really looking forward to it!! It looks like Aberdeen would be a neat town to explore. If we end up moving to Oakes, I may pick your brain about fun things to do.