Freezing rain overnight rendered Minot and the surrounding region into a skating rink for most of the day Tuesday, Dec. 9, with the Minot Police Department recommending no travel unless absolutely necessary. “City crews are working hard, but the weather is making conditions extremely challenging.”

The City of Minot confirmed an incident at the Minot International Airport Tuesday morning, where a snow response vehicle collided with a parked commercial jet.

According to the incident report cited by the City, the airport employee was driving a sand truck near Gate 2 and responded to a request to place sand in front of the aircraft. The sanding vehicle slid to the left on the ice and then slid backward toward the aircraft and struck its nose. No passengers were aboard the aircraft and no one was injured, but both truck and aircraft sustained damage.

United Airlines canceled flights out of Minot in response to the weather conditions.The incident remains under further investigation by the North Dakota Highway Patrol.

The North Dakota Department of Transportation and North Dakota Highway Patrol temporarily closed a section of U.S. Highway 83, south of Minot between Max and the junction with N.D. Highway 23, Tuesday morning for about two hours.

A number of entities also announced closures for the day, including Minot Public Library, all Minot Public Schools, Bishop Ryan High School, Minot State University, Our Redeemer’s Christian School, Lewis and Clark School District, Newburg United, Max, Parshall, Powers Lake, Stanley and Towner/Granville/Upham, among others.

The City of Minot announced all city administration offices were closed at noon and encouraged all non-essential storm personnel to remain at home, as the National Weather Service in Bismarck had reported conditions were expected to worsen with the wind forecast.

Jason Anglin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Bismarck, said another round of light snow was expected in addition to the appearance of high winds, which he said could result in blowing snow and a freezing drizzle overnight.

“We’re not done with this system yet,” Anglin said.