Weather Why's: Systems that bring snow to North Dakota

The first one that's big for us is a Colorado low. Starting off in Colorado or New Mexico, this low pressure system will move to the north-northeast of the country through the central portions of the country. That will bring ice to the Great Lakes states. It could bring snow to the north, bring some severe weather down to the south with that rain chance. Now with a Colorado low, the track means everything for us.

Usually there's one to two, maybe three tracks. Let's say a Colorado low takes track number one. Well, that could bring us a lot heavier snow in this area of North and South Dakota over that time period. If it takes track number two, if it moves through, well, that system may bring us snow just nowhere near as heavy as the amount that could come with one. And especially if it comes directly at us, could see even more snow across the state of North Dakota. Another system that we see is an Alberta Clipper. This system starts off to the far northwest of Canada, moves to the southeast towards the Great Lakes.

Snow will follow where that low pressure system sits. This will also pull in a lot of cold air from the north into the northern portions of the country. It could also bring stormy conditions along that cold front that forms on the bottom side of that low. Now there are a few more low pressure systems that bring snow but maybe not to us. The first one's a pan handle hook starting in New Mexico. It sort of moves through northern Texas into the southern states that could bring colder weather, could bring snow, could also bring some storms. We also have a northeaster starting off in the Atlantic. It moves along the east coast and that brings heavy snow to areas like Pennsylvania and New York but doesn't really bring us much here in North Dakota. So what are the differences between that Alberta Clipper and Colorado Low again? Well that Alberta Clipper originates in Canada. It's fast moving, forms with cold dry air and usually is a light fluffy snow. A Colorado Low, well that starts in Colorado or New Mexico. It's slower moving, forms with moist warmer Gulf air and well it's usually wet snow with larger accumulations.