Did the groundhog just seal North Dakota's fate for the rest of the winter?

In case you were hibernating yesterday and didn't hear, that rodent in Pennsylvania Punxsutawney Phil did indeed see his shadow, and that means 6 more weeks of winter. If he failed to see his shadow, legend has it we would see an early spring.

Of course, this is all relative living in North Dakota. I would say that during most winters we would gladly take just 6 more weeks of winter. That means it would start getting "spring-like" in the middle of March. Something that seldom happens in North Dakota.

Even April can be very "winter-like" in any given year with snowstorms and even blizzards.

I find it humorous that the groundhog predicts doom and gloom for us and we go from no snow in Bismarck Mandan to a fresh blanket of snow this morning with very chilly temperatures and blowing snow.

A quick reminder we are not done with winter, and we could have a very active second half of the season.

Still, trying to be positive is my nature, so let's look ahead to spring and see what the National Weather Service has predicted for us. Here's a snapshot of the next 3 months, March, April, and May as we kick off spring on March 20th, 2025.

Here's what the next 3 months look like from a temperature standpoint.

National Weather Service
National Weather Service
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For most of the state, it looks like we should see normal temperatures during the 3-month period. The only exception would be the western third of the state could be a bit on the cooler side.

How about the 3-month precipitation outlook for North Dakota?

Currently, most of the state remains on the dry side with a lack of significant snow cover.

National Weather Service
National Weather Service
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Again, no real pattern either way when it comes to spring precipitation this spring. It looks like we have an equal chance for above or below normal. Let's hope we are at least near normal as we don't want to be really dry with all that vegetation that could lead to spring wildfires.

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