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Minot's five snowiest Christmas Days

2009 - not available

1950 - 3.8 inches.

1975 - 2.2 inches.

1960 - 1.6 inches.

1934/1938/1942 - 1.0 inches.

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Agreeable Christmas Eve weather turned out to be the calm before the storm, much like what the National Weather Service had predicted. Sometime after Santa Claus made his rounds snow began falling and the wind picked up.

By morning Christmas Day it was obvious that it would be a day better spent at home with friends and family than outside battling the elements. As mid-afternoon approached the all-day snowstorm intensified. Heavy snow driven by winds gusting close to 40 miles per hour created impossible travel conditions virtually everywhere in the state.

Due to dismal conditions few Minoters ventured out on city streets Christmas Day. Those who did were fortunate if they reached their destination without incident. Conditions within the city became so bad due to snow depth and diminishing visibility that the Minot Police Department issued a No Travel Advisory and city plows were pulled from roadways. The North Dakota Highway Patrol closed the exit gates to Minot on North and South Broadway at 5 p.m. and travel to Devils Lake on U.S. Highway 2 was halted later. Travel that was hazardous at best during daylight hours would be all but impossible at night.

The North Dakota Department of Transportation, along with the Highway Patrol, had earlier closed I-94 from Montana to the Minnesota border at 3:45 p.m. and recalled all snowplows. A "No Travel Advisory" was issued for all of North Dakota with the exception of a limited area of the northwest. At 5:23 p.m. a Civil Emergency Message was relayed by the NWS announced that U.S. Highway 83 from Bismarck to the Canadian border was closed due to severe blowing and drifting snow and zero visibility. The message said the road conditions would be evaluated again this morning. A blizzard warning issued Friday was expected to remain in effect through the afternoon hours today.

The blessing within the storm was that the temperature reached into the teens during the day, meaning that those who had to go outside could do so without being hindered by miserably low wind chills. A few residents could be found behind snowblowers or pushing show shovels Friday afternoon.

In southwest Minot several shovelers were teaming up in at attempt to clear a wide driveway of deep snow. A vehicle sitting behind a snowbank blocking it in was outfitted with Kansas license plates. One of those doing the shoveling was Dan Gruss of Shawnee, Kan. He and his family made the trip from Kansas to visit in-laws during Christmas.

"We are making no progress what so ever shoveling this driveway," laughed Gruss. "And this is our third or fourth attempt. We were going to leave tomorrow (Saturday) morning, but that is looking less and less likely. We were actually talking about moving back here until this afternoon (Friday)."

"I don't like all the snow. We're going to visit in the summer from now on," added Leigh Gruss, Dan Gruss' wife and a former North Dakota resident. "There's worse things that being stuck on Christmas."

Those within the city of Minot on Christmas Day can boast they witnessed a record-setting performance. While Minot's official snowfall total of was unavailable at press time, simple observation revealed the certainty that it was the most that has ever fallen on the city on Dec. 25. The previous record of 3.8 inches in 1950 appeared to have been blown away by Friday's storm. Unofficial reports exceeded 10 inches. The official total is reported to the NWS at 6 a.m. each day.

Other North Dakota cities saw their snowfall records drifted under as well, many of which were long-standing marks. Bismarck totaled 7.2 inches Christmas Day, burying their old mark of 5.2 inches set in 1916. Fargo's 5.7 inches surpassed the old record of 3.6 inches set in 1912. Williston reported a 4.3 inch snowfall on Christmas Day, eclipsing that city's record of 1 inch set in 1980.