Tim Lindsey pushes a snowblower through a drift to clear the sidewalks at Bethany Lutheran Church in downtown Minot Friday, following Thursday’s snowstorm.

After getting pummeled by a blizzard on Nov. 10, North Dakota got its first taste of what the winter season has in store. While Bismarck and eastern parts of the start were hit hardest by the blizzard, the Magic City set a small record of its own for the date, blanketed by a relatively humble 7 inches of snowfall compared to the 24 inches dumped on Bismarck.

The wind reduced visibility considerably and turned the falling snow into drifts in short order. Many local businesses elected to close early as the community hunkered down, including the Minot International Airport, where airlines canceled outbound flights as the storm took hold. The snow and wind stuck around through Thursday before tapering off in the evening.

The city was prepared for the storm, with the Minot City Council approving the 2022-2023 snow plan earlier in the week. The city’s snow plan first prioritizes snow removal along 32 main routes, followed by hills and school zones, with residential streets and downtown to be completed last. Snow removal crews will operate in shifts 24 hours a day until all streets are cleared.

Before the snow started falling, a brining truck was sent out to aid melting and to mitigate slick roads, which were then followed by sanders and eight blades to deal with the accumulation once the snow really kicked off. Despite a hard day’s work clearing main arterial roads, workers were not able to address residential routes until Friday due to blowing snow undoing a great deal of their efforts.

The City of Minot’s Facebook page made several announcements in the lead up and throughout the storm, keeping the public informed on the cleanup crew’s status, with a dash of snark and memes to go along with it. In one post announcing the shift toward residential streets, the page advised the public to treat snow removal vehicles like geese at Oak Park saying, “please don’t feed them, they’ll forget how to survive in the wild on their own.”

The weekend forecast looks to be partly sunny on Saturday, with a slight chance of more snow on Sunday. The cold will stick around for the rest of next week, with a chance of more snow on Thursday.