062
FXUS63 KFGF 030023
AFDFGF

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Grand Forks ND
623 PM CST Mon Feb 2 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Light to moderate snow continues this afternoon with another
  shot of light snow Tuesday night.

- Above average temperatures through the first half of the
  month.

&&

.UPDATE...
Issued at 623 PM CST Mon Feb 2 2026

Obs and radar showing not much snow over southeastern ND
currently, with just a narrow band on radar and some flurries
still around Oakes. The downward trend in snow will continue as
the shortwave continues south and we get more dry air moving in.
Will let the short term graphic forecast expire, with the next
round of lightly accumulating snow coming in later
tomorrow/tomorrow night.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 150 PM CST Mon Feb 2 2026

...Synopsis...

Ensemble clusters show good agreement on the synoptic evolution
through the next few days with ridging over the western CONUS
and NW flow aloft over the northern plains bringing weak waves
through our area. In the lower levels more zonal flow and
multiple rounds of chinook airmasses moving east bring chances
at temps in the upper 30s to low 40s. There is still some
notable uncertainty in how far east these low level bubbles of
warmth move but should they move as far east as some clusters
are showing then highs near 40 are certainly within the cards
(for areas mostly without snow cover). Clusters beyond this
weekend do hint at flow becoming more zonal as ridging breaks
down and potentially even becoming SW at some point next week
but minimal ensemble agreement is displayed at this range.

- Tonight

With generally weak synoptic support aside from DCVA and some WAA
mainly focused in south central ND at this point, moderate snow
rates continue to be driven mainly by upright instability atop
the 850- 700mb baroclinic zone. Have not seen any snow reports
yet but just looking at webcams and plowcams it seems that most
areas are only seeing 1-2" at most so far and the fears of
organized stationary banding has not panned out. Still the
potential for areas in southeast ND (south of HWY 200) to see
some of these heavy rates remains into the early evening as the
wave pulls south into South Dakota but not looking at too much
accumulation, maybe a inch or so.

- Tuesday Night

A weak wave will move south out of Manitoba/western Ontario late
Tuesday bringing weak DCVA and some WAA to northwest Minnesota
resulting in some light snow across the area. With the generally
weak synoptic support and fast motion of the wave only expecting a
couple tenths of an inch of snow, with areas from Hallock to
Bemidji and east seeing a > 50% for 0.03" QPF or ~0.5" of snow
Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. With winds remaining light via
a weak surface pressure gradient and weak CAA blowing snow is
also a low concern limiting the impact potential of this wave to
nuisance snowfall.

- Warmth persisting

As we carry on through the week, low level thermal ridging
continues to build to our west with intermittent surges of the
warm bubble eastward over our region. One such surge comes
Thursday with with the NBM 25th to 75th showing anywhere from
low 30s to low 40s. Granted that probably doesnt properly
account for the fact we have a relatively deep (2-8+") snowpack
across the region. The fact the snow pack is also forecast to
still have a temp in the high 10s to low 20s the next few days
also does not conceptually seem conducive to temps this warm but
nonetheless a warm up to at least near to slightly above
freezing seems possible later this week. Warmer temps in the
20s to 30s stick around beyond Thursday with westerly flow in
the lower levels continuing to pump a warmer airmass our way.
Normal highs the first half of January for the forecast area are
still in the teens to low 20s so this could certainly be
considered above average for the period.

&&

.AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z WEDNESDAY/...
Issued at 623 PM CST Mon Feb 2 2026

MVFR ceilings have finally cleared out of the KFAR area, leaving
all TAF sites VFR. That should last through the rest of the
evening, but some lower stratus looks to come in tomorrow
morning. Some of the model runs bring in ceilings down to 300 ft
by tomorrow morning to most of our airports, but other solutions
keep it VFR throughout. Continued the previous shift`s trends
and will keep conditions MVFR to higher IFR at KBJI as upstream
obs support those conditions more than the very low stratus.
Winds will become light and variable, then pick up out of the
south at less than 10 kts by tomorrow morning.


&&

.FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ND...None.
MN...None.

&&

$$

UPDATE...JR
DISCUSSION...TT
AVIATION...JR