Winds of Winter

Guess who’s getting a winter storm Wednesday?

There’s a whisper on the wind that bad weather’s on its way, and the National Weather Service in Grand Forks confirms: Valley City and the surrounding region should brace itself for six inches of snow, possibly a full foot, courtesy of a Colorado low winter storm that’ll be descending upon us Wednesday night, into Thursday and Friday.

“We have a Colorado low heading into our area and it’s going to begin Wednesday night heading into Thursday morning,” Mathew McLaughlan, meteorologist with the NWS in Grand Forks, told the Times-Record. “With a Colorado low we’re expecting a little heavier and denser snow. It’s going to be more strengthened from the average Alberta clipper, so we are expecting a little more snow with this system.”

While some have reported the prospect of a full foot of snow, there’s some cause for optimism that we’ll see less than that, depending on the tender mercies of Mother Na- ture.

“As far as the whole 12 inches, some areas may get some … that’s really going to depend (on) areas of increased convection, like rising motion in the atmosphere,” McLaughlan said. “If everything sets up it’s very possible you can get six inches.”

Road conditions are likely to be quite adversely affected.

“It could definitely affect some road conditions, with our high winds that are also expected with this Colorado low we could see some degraded visibility and colder temperatures,” McLaughlan said. “This is going to be a wet and dense snow.”

Wind could be anywhere from 30-milesper hour with potential for gusting up to the 50mph mark.

“It’s going to be pretty packed. This is all going to be dependent on where the low sets up for our area,” he added. “I’m a little hesitant to throw out the 12 inches, but worst-case-scenario, that’s possible.”

Valley City experienced hellacious wind on Sunday and there is some possibility that similarly strong winds could besiege the community for this coming storm as well.

“Some areas saw up to 50-to-60 mph winds on Sunday and with this Colorado low passing through, that’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility.”

Exercise common sense and discretion when it comes to keeping safe in the coming weather. Traveling on highways or just about anywhere should be considered with all due caution.

“If you don’t have to drive, definitely don’t,” McLaughlan said.

Wednesday night may see more mixed precipitation, but once Thursday rolls in and into Friday, the NWS will be classifying all of it as snow.