Quote:
Originally Posted by Min Yao
Hello everybody,
I'm about to move to Minot in 1 year and I would like to know about the climate there.
How is the 4 seasons there?
thank you so much
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I live in the Grand Forks ND area and I am a meteorologist (Weather forecaster) and I have in-laws in Minot and go there frequently.
Here is a link to all the weather stats for Minot in terms of averages, etc over the past many many years.
MINOT EXPERIMENT STN, ND - Climate Summary
In summary...
Our part of the country is the land of extremes and highly changeable/variable weather from season to season.
Some winters can have prolonged very cold and snowy weather while some winters like the last one were unusually mild with little snow. Same for the other seasons....you will find quite a variation day to day many times.
The idea of cold weather how cold is cold is so variable I have found out person to person. Some people, like myself, can tolerate cold well, others cannot.
But in general, expect the typical winter season to run Nov 15 to March 15 in most years. During this time period, snow is pretty common, though heavy snowfalls are pretty rare. But due to cold weather and below freezing temps snow often doesnt melt in most winters so you have a continuous snow cover from about Thanksgiving to Dec 1st.... until about mid March.
Temperatures...below zero readings can occur anytime from Thanksgiving to early March and are pretty common. They can occur earlier and later as well but less common. Christmas to Valentines Day is the typical coldest part of the winter....with lows 10 to 25 below and highs zero to 15 above very normal. These are in degrees Farenheit. A few periods of very cold weather can occur with lows -30 or lower, though not all winters have this. You can have above freezing days in winter as well, but they are bonus days when you can wear a light jacket.
The wind is the biggest factor in the Dakotas as it is always a factor. Blowing snow can occur, and is a problem outside of town in low visbility, but in town it is less so. Winds can drift the snow though into large piles at times. Wind chills on rare occasions get to -40F or lower but on most days the wind does add a bit to the air, even on mild days.
On very cold weather days, often you have a deep blue sky and the snow is dry and fluffy. We dont have a lot of melt-freeze-melt cycles so ice isnt a huge huge issue....more snow packed roads. Sand and a salt/sand mix is used often on roads for traction and the roads are plowed. So travel in town is usually not too bad, except immediately after a snow event before the plows get out.
I consider the warm season to begin around Mother's Day the lasts until Labor Day. Yes 90s will occur every year....and a few 95+ readings, but long stretches of this heat is not common and often followed by a cold front which will drop temps to the 70s for highs. Overnight lows in the warm season are most often 55 to 65. There can be muggy/humid periods in the mid June to mid August period....but those dont last too long either. Sunshine is abundant in the summer, though you can have thunderstorms at times.
The spring and fall periods are often short and variable year to year. Some years wet and cloudy and others drier and sunnier.
--Dan
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