There is Nothing “Normal” About Midwest Winters

In April of 2022, Fargo experienced a tornado warning one Saturday afternoon.

The next day, it was snowing.

This is just one of the many examples of the unpredictability of weather here in our wonderful state. From tornadoes to blizzards to floods and beyond, weather is just about the most unreliable variable we have here in the Upper Midwest.

Following last week’s winter weather advisory, there was plenty of commentary surrounding the absurdity of it all: how did we go from 60 degrees and sunny one week, to a record setting 9.5 inches of snow in one morning? It being early April, not to mention Easter weekend, only made it seem more unfair.

While it might be annoying, that’s just the way it goes. We go to bed when it’s sixty degrees and clear skies and wake up to an inch of snow on the ground and have to scrape our cars before we leave for work or class.

Growing up in the Fargo area, I’ve gotten used to extreme weather. I don’t like it, but you can’t do anything about it. My summer jobs typically have me outside a few times a day, and even in July, I will bring a sweatshirt along. Mornings are typically chilly, especially in the shade, and I am always glad I brought a long sleeve along. By afternoon, I am ditching the hoodie and feeling warm even in short sleeves and shorts.

The biggest grievance with North Dakota weather is not the extremes winter brings, because blizzards and freezing temperatures just come with the territory, but how long it is and the unpredictability. I can’t call a winter here “typical,” as we have seen these past few weeks.

Snow starts flying anywhere from October to December; I remember one winter very clearly when it was snowing on October 5th because it was my Grandpa’s birthday, which is only a few days before my own, and I was upset that there was snow for my birthday. I also remember listening to Christmas music in the early days of December and just hoping we’d get a few flakes for it to feel like the holidays.

I also recall a Christmas Day not too long ago where we had freezing rain and no snow.

By January, we are all usually sick to death of puffy coats, dead car batteries, cold hands and icy roads. Winter weather does as it pleases anyway: my freshman year of college, we had a blizzard every Wednesday for the month of February and into early March. I know it was every Wednesday because Wednesday is garbage day in my neighborhood, so we had to chase down trash cans and lids every week.

Way back when I was in early elementary school, I can also remember a year where myself and my siblings and the neighborhood kids were outside in shorts and playing in our sandbox on St. Patrick’s Day.

Winter can be over anywhere from February to May, and just because we have a “false spring” on Valentine’s Day doesn’t mean we won’t have a blizzard on Easter, just like this year.

The weather isn’t fair, doesn’t care and we can complain all we want, but there’s nothing we can do about it. Despite my grievances with the whiplash these extremes can bring, I do love living in the Upper Midwest. I love the people and the small-town feeling of Fargo, while still having the comfort and accessibility of a larger town. Believe it or not, I love the flat prairie of North Dakota and being able to see for miles. It’s a great place to live as long as you can survive the weather.