Early September Frost Hits Western North Dakota

Parts of western North Dakota experienced a frost over the weekend, with temperatures dipping into the 20s in several areas. Bismarck National Weather Service Meteorologist Jeff Schild says the cold snap came from an unusual combination of weather factors. “What we had was just a perfect little setup of a high-pressure surface, high-pressure settling into the area. We also ended up with clear skies and calm winds, and to top it off, there was an unusually cold air mass. We were running average temperatures, which would have been equivalent to what we would see in early to mid-October.” Schild says the coldest temperatures were recorded west of Highway 83. “Some of the coldest temps dipped into the mid to upper 20s over a pretty broad swath stretching through the Scranton, Watford City, up north into the Ray, and near Crosby areas.”