Drifting Snow

Well the snow finally gave us a break this week and temperatures did warm up the past couple days...  More »

Well the snow finally gave us a break this week and temperatures did warm up the past couple days, but today, strong wind was causing even more problems for road crews in the area. Sustained winds blew to around 25 miles per hour with gusting around 40 miles per hour at times. The high wind created many areas of blowing snow and several large drifts across roadways. Some of the more wide-open areas of andamp;lt;a href=andamp;quot;http://www.kxnet.com/t/minot-ndandamp;quot; class=andamp;quot;kxInlineLinkandamp;quot;andamp;gt;Minotandamp;lt;/aandamp;gt;, like 21st Avenue Northwest and 16th Street Southwest, needed almost constant maintenance from the city's street department. Josh Sundsbak (SUNDS-BOCK) operates the departments only large snow blower, and he says it's been yet, another busy day. (Josh Sundsbak, Minot Street Department) andamp;quot;Well the wind has been blowing so hard and the snow is so deep that the blades can not push it back, so we have been blowing it with the snow blower. Once I blow it back it stays off pretty good. It's warmed up, so it aint blowing as much.andamp;quot; Drifting snow has also been a problem for many rural county roads in the area. County road 23, north of Sawyer has become blocked with snow in several areas all the way to U.S. Highway 2. Several cars have gotten stuck in the banks, and one traveler says until the road is cleared, people should avoid taking that route.  « Less