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Haven't posted anything in awhile, but I did have some thoughts on any newcomers to North Dakota and even for NoDak'ns that have lived here for awhile. The old addiage, do in Rome as the Romans do, I believe holds for North Dakota as well. If your new to North Dakota, best to have an attitude of embracing all that the Dakotas have to offer. Complaining dosn't really help with your outlook. But, I think what is not often mentioned are the little secrets that are really not secrets here. Yes!! People in North Dakota are basically friendly. I will follow up that comment, not ALL are. I moved back to North Dakota after spending most of my life swimming with the sharks in the corporate world. I still feel some sanity still exists in NoDak. Yup! We have our proplems with drugs and our teens text messaging on there electronic devices while driving.... Drives me nuts!!!..LOL....
Anyway, after this long lead-in I only want to leave with a suggestion.
These past couple months, I've been spraying for weeds for our county (Bottineau). In driving almost every township in the county, I'm so amazed at all the abundant wildlife, streams, gully's, ravine's that exist across a rather flat terrain. If you look across the county, your missing all that exisits between the flat areas. What a difference it makes when you only drive 15-20 mph. How much more you see.
My wife and I would suggest no matter where you live in North Dakota, go out for a family outing, into the boon-docs for a couple hours. Drive slow, take lots of pictures and make it a real family affair. You will be plesantly surprised at all you will see driving around our state. It may not be for everyone, but I think many would be plesantly surprised, slow down for a few hours, and see all the beauty that North Dakota has to offer.
Good Luck!
Ooops! Don't know how to post pictures. Wife said I should have posted picture of moose we seen today. Maybe I'll have to find out how to post picrtures sometime...
Excellent post, MikeyToo, and timely for me because I'm moving back to ND in a few weeks after having swum with the sharks during a long career. Thanks.
That's such a wonderful idea! We did that as often as we could, even all winter! This is such amazing country - the landscape has so much variety and beauty.
I think we could spend days a week just driving around and taking pictures, and enjoying this beautiful state. We love to stop in little local grocery stores (hmmmmmm what unique items might we find here?????) and restaurants. Sit at the lunch counter and talk to the farmers there for dinner. Enjoy ALL the beauty of North Dakota - and that includes the people!
We're going to be traveling for a few months - but there is so much that we'll miss. But . . . we will be back home to North Dakota! We've bonded with this state - but suffer from wanderlust!
one thing I love about the US is that there's literally a climate and/or landscape to fit anyone's preference, period. North Dakota certainly has it's place too just like Fairbanks Alaska does. Personally where I live now is too cold for me, this whole eastern ND, eastern SD, northern MN corridor. I used to live in Southern WI. The difference in winter enjoyment really is quite amazing just from going to having it be 10 above all the time for a high, to say 25-30 above which is pretty common for a high in Southern WI.
Or go out west where the chinook winds are in nebraska panhandle, where it's -10 and the next day the winds warm the temp up to the 50's... I think I'd enjoy that. Just something to break the cold for a bit.. the cold is never broken in Eastern ND/SD.. it just stays there all the time, shooting straight down from canada... too far west to get the gulf warmth influence like WI gets that will bump temps to 40+ with snowmelt at least a few days a month, not far enough west to get winds from the higher elevations like the black hills of SD and western nebraska panhandle get.
People lump this whole area into one climate but really there are distinct micro-climates that exist based on one's location. Actually the jet stream has been such that the weather pattern in eastern SD since about the beginning of march has been very Southern Wisconsin-like.. above normal precip, warmer temperatures, early march snowmelt, beautiful early spring, beautiful summer. I've really enjoyed this spring more then any of the others since I've lived here. The gulf moisture influence has definitely been further west then typical this spring/summer
one thing I love about the US is that there's literally a climate and/or landscape to fit anyone's preference, period. North Dakota certainly has it's place too just like Fairbanks Alaska does. Personally where I live now is too cold for me, this whole eastern ND, eastern SD, northern MN corridor. I used to live in Southern WI. The difference in winter enjoyment really is quite amazing just from going to having it be 10 above all the time for a high, to say 25-30 above which is pretty common for a high in Southern WI.
Or go out west where the chinook winds are in nebraska panhandle, where it's -10 and the next day the winds warm the temp up to the 50's... I think I'd enjoy that. Just something to break the cold for a bit.. the cold is never broken in Eastern ND/SD.. it just stays there all the time, shooting straight down from canada... too far west to get the gulf warmth influence like WI gets that will bump temps to 40+ with snowmelt at least a few days a month, not far enough west to get winds from the higher elevations like the black hills of SD and western nebraska panhandle get.
People lump this whole area into one climate but really there are distinct micro-climates that exist based on one's location. Actually the jet stream has been such that the weather pattern in eastern SD since about the beginning of march has been very Southern Wisconsin-like.. above normal precip, warmer temperatures, early march snowmelt, beautiful early spring, beautiful summer. I've really enjoyed this spring more then any of the others since I've lived here. The gulf moisture influence has definitely been further west then typical this spring/summer
good weather post. you are so correct as within a semi-homogenious area there are distinct weather-temp differences in the winter time. cold arctic air is heavy and settles....in the red river valley where I live the cold air will settle into valley and takes forever to scour out. When we get a warming system coming with west winds...it will warm into the 30s and 40s in Minot and Bismarck very easily....with 32 even reaching Jamestown and Devils Lake...and then what occurs is what we call the valley skip over effect in which the warm air goes over cold air and the valley (GF-Fargo) doesnt get the warmer air and then it reaches the higher terrain east of the valley in the treed area of northern and central Minnesota and boing it is warm again.
As a weather forecaster for E ND and NW MN for over 10 yrs...A pretty typical "warm" event is the following...say got a low going across southern Canada with warmer southwest or west winds spreading into ND.
3 pm temps....
Williston....41
Dickinson...50
Bismarck...48
Minot....43
Jamestown....38
Devils Lake...32
Fargo....18
Grand Forks....16
Bemidji....30
Park Rapids...32
Any reader of my posts though knows I am a cold natured person...meaning I like it cold....I dislike the slush...slop that you get when it does warm up to freezing...trying to keep the house clean with kids going in/out is pretty hard.
We will see what happens this winter...but it does look colder than the past few for sure.
We will see what happens this winter...but it does look colder than the past few for sure.
I keep hearing rumors from the farmers that there is supposed to be a LOT of snow this winter, not just cold. What are you speculating??[/quote]
Our local climate person in the office who looks at long range trends and teleconnections (patterns worldwide) is suggesting a stormier and colder winter. I have read some references for a 1988-89 type winter which brought about 70-75 inches of snow to Fargo. But I caution it is very very early...and precipitation outlooks are by far harder than temperature outlooks just due to the nature of snowstorms and their tracks and snowfall variability.
NO! More snow than last year? Now I am worried about how I am going to get to work How well do they keep 83 clear?
Hwy 83 is usually kept pretty good...but they will close parts of it south of Minot on to Bismarck if the visibility is bad. I am not sure about the part from the base to Minot. My wife's parents live about 15 mi SW of Minot in rural country. The really bad winter of 08-09 when Minot set the record for snow (I think it was a record at least)....they had to park along Highway 23 and then take a snowmobile to the house as the rural road to the house could not be plowed for a month. Or other than that they stayed in town.
At my work...for those that live out of Grand Forks we have cots and food set up in case you can't make it out of town due to the wind and vsby.
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Personally where I live now is too cold for me, this whole eastern ND, eastern SD, northern MN corridor. I used to live in Southern WI. The difference in winter enjoyment really is quite amazing just from going to having it be 10 above all the time for a high, to say 25-30 above which is pretty common for a high in Southern WI. 
