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Old 12-20-2008, 05:54 PM
 
60 posts, read 179,488 times
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I'm a big weather lover...I'm hoping to hear that Fargo has some doozy thunderstorms in the spring/summer!
We were going to move to Moorhead, MN...but the state taxes and liberals scared me off..LOL. No offense...
Anyway if you live or have lived in Fargo...will you be so kind as to describe the seasons and weather?
Thanks so much...
~Blue Sky~
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Old 12-20-2008, 06:24 PM
 
Location: Valley City, ND
625 posts, read 1,874,058 times
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Where are you moving from?
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Old 12-20-2008, 08:41 PM
 
60 posts, read 179,488 times
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Colorado...at 8,360 feet in the rockies.
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Old 12-20-2008, 11:03 PM
 
Location: Valley City, ND
625 posts, read 1,874,058 times
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Yes, we do have thunderstorms in summer & blizzards in winter. Both can be pretty impressive. If it's tornado chasing you're looking for, you'd be better further south of here. If you're looking for gorgeous photos, you're coming to the right place.

Most places you can see clear to the curve of the horizon...especially there in the Red River Valley, but most anywhere in the state, you can see the storms moving in and watch the thunderheads building for several hours ahead of time.

We also have the most amazing clouds. It's so funny to get to talking to people at the rest areas along the interstate and the main reason they had stopped was to take pictures of the clouds....they'd never seen clouds like we have. Sunrises and sunsets are often just awesome!

Oh, and once the sunspots get going again, watching the auroras is also really neat!
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Old 12-20-2008, 11:09 PM
 
Location: Valley City, ND
625 posts, read 1,874,058 times
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Oh, I forgot to say I lived in Fargo for 6 or 7 years, then Grand Forks (80 miles north of Fargo) for 10, and now we've been in Valley City (an hour west of Fargo) for 14 years. My husband and I are both originally from Minnesota. He's from the north west part & I'm from south central/west central...all depends on who you're talking to. LOL!!!
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Old 12-21-2008, 12:04 AM
 
Location: E ND & NW MN
4,818 posts, read 10,954,100 times
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Hi

I forecast weather for this area (the Red River valley or just the valley as we say) and surrounding areas....and yes thunderstorms are frequent in mid May to mid September period with locally severe thunderstorms with hail, strong winds mainly from mid June to mid August. Lightning shows are awesome as out of town you can see storms arrive from long distances and watch lightning from far away. We dont have much haze in the sky so you can view tops of far away thunderstorms clearly in many occasions. So if you like to take photos of clouds, this is a good place.

As for the weather....you will move obviously in the coldest part of the year. We have very changeable weather...with large swings from summer to winter....it can be 100 in the summer and -30 in the winter. Springs and falls tend to be short (with Springs of late seeming to arrive later) with a comfortable summer and long winters. We can get bouts of real humid and hot weather in the summer, but it doesnt last more than a few days.

Typically most years will see snow gone and ice off the rivers by early to mid April (each year varies a bit)....with snow on the ground to stay usually around Thanksgiving (this is highly variable though) but this is climatology.
Average snowfall is 40-50 inches but winds blow a lot of the snow around making for large drifts.

Here is a great write-up on everything you want to know about Fargo climate by two meteorologists at our NWS Grand Forks office....

http://climate.umn.edu/pdf/fargo_climate.pdf

Fargo is a windy place...so rare to find a day without much wind. South winds or north winds are typically the strongest.

Spring snowmelt flooding in the red river valley is pretty common...but most of the city is protected well with most years only bringing minor flooding some parks/golf course on the north end of town along the river. But there are plans for a permanent flood protection project for Fargo.

hey...if you love summer weather....why dont you attend a skywarn spotter class in Fargo. The NWS Grand Forks gives them each spring and shows what to look for when storm spotting, etc. check our webpage out in the early spring or late winter to scheduled talks....

www.crh.noaa.gov/fgf



Dan
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Old 12-21-2008, 04:16 PM
 
60 posts, read 179,488 times
Reputation: 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3-Oaks View Post
Yes, we do have thunderstorms in summer & blizzards in winter. Both can be pretty impressive. If it's tornado chasing you're looking for, you'd be better further south of here. If you're looking for gorgeous photos, you're coming to the right place.

Most places you can see clear to the curve of the horizon...especially there in the Red River Valley, but most anywhere in the state, you can see the storms moving in and watch the thunderheads building for several hours ahead of time.

We also have the most amazing clouds. It's so funny to get to talking to people at the rest areas along the interstate and the main reason they had stopped was to take pictures of the clouds....they'd never seen clouds like we have. Sunrises and sunsets are often just awesome!

Oh, and once the sunspots get going again, watching the auroras is also really neat!
Oh thank you...I can hardly wait!
No desire for tornados...
Are auroras the sam thing as the Northern Lights?
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Old 12-21-2008, 04:40 PM
 
60 posts, read 179,488 times
Reputation: 32
DaninEGF...
My goodness...thank you so much for taking the time to share the all the great info and links. I admire your work field so much. You can certainly tell your a forecaster by the way you eloquently described Fargo!
I know now I'm in for a treat!
Blessings...
~Blue Sky~
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Old 12-21-2008, 10:05 PM
 
Location: Valley City, ND
625 posts, read 1,874,058 times
Reputation: 549
Yep!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ~Blue Sky~ View Post
Oh thank you...I can hardly wait!
No desire for tornados...
Are auroras the sam thing as the Northern Lights?
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Old 12-21-2008, 10:07 PM
 
60 posts, read 179,488 times
Reputation: 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3-Oaks View Post
Yep!
Wow...When we lived in Green Bay we saw them once.
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