Say It Isn’t Snow In May? (Snow Possible This Saturday)

April showers bring May flowers right?  Not SNOW?!  That's what some of North Dakota could wake up to Saturday, morning.  Measurable snow?  Not likely, but a very chilly weekend headed our way none the less.

So how common is snow in North Dakota in May?  For myself coming from Grand Forks, the self proclaimed butt crack of North Dakota when it comes to weather...It's fairly common.  I remember several accumulating snow events in the Forks.  In fact, I remember playing a softball tournament on Mother's day weekend in a snow storm.

So I decided to give the National Weather Service a call in Bismarck to see how common snow is in our neck of the woods in May?  I spoke to Ken with the NWS and I was surprised to find out that snow in May is not so "uncommon" in Bismarck Mandan.  Back in 1950 we had 10 inches of snow fall in Bismarck during the month of May.  In 1967 Bismarck received 8.2 inches of snow in May.  In 1991 we had 6.5 inches of snow in May.  In fact, there have been several snow events with much smaller totals during the month May in recent Bismarck history.  It seems like just about every other year we receive some of the white powder in Bismarck.  We've even had snow in June recently here in Bismarck.  A trace in 2018.

So hows the snow chance looking for Bismarck this weekend?  Not likely, but we will be on the edge.  It's going to be a very "raw" weekend with highs in the upper 40's or very low 50's.  Temps will start out Saturday morning in the low to mid 30's and the best chance of snow will be Saturday morning.  To add insult to injury, look for west winds gusting to 30 mph giving us a very cold day with rain likely.

North Dakota's best chance for snow this weekend will be in the Turtle Mountains down to Minot and over to Rugby and Devils Lake.  Snow is also possible east of Bismarck from Jamestown to Fargo and up to Grand Forks.  Look for 1/2 inch to an inch in these areas with some localized higher amounts.