Storm impact continued Friday

Snow and rain continued to fall in the northern Red River Valley Friday after the first winter storm moved through the area Thursday morning.

The mixture of snow and rain created slippery conditions that are blamed for a head-on collision early Friday morning near Strandquist, Minn., that injured two, according to the State Patrol.

Ann Johnson, 38, of Karlstad, Minn., and Michelle Gullikson, 44, of Middle River, Minn., were both treated and released. The patrol said Gullickson lost control of her southbound Chevy Trailblazer and struck Johnson’s northbound GMC Envoy on state Highway 59 around 5:30 a.m.

In parts of northwest Minnesota, the power went out.

It was a repeat of Thursday when power went out in parts of northeast North Dakota and a head-on collision in the Thief River Falls area killed a woman. The patrol blamed that crash on slippery roads as well.

But things are looking up.

Snow, which continued to fall through Friday evening, was expected to taper off later in the evening, according to Bill Barrett, a meteorological technician with the National Weather Service office in Grand Forks.

“We’re in for a fairly nice day tomorrow,” Barrett said.

Today is expected to be sunny with a high of 35.

Power still out

That’ll be a good thing for linemen working to restore power to PKM Electric Cooperative customers.

About 25 of them, some brought in from other companies, worked from sunrise to about midnight Thursday, then returned to the field early Friday to repair lines and replace broken poles, said Mike Schmidt, assistant manager for PKM.

At its peak, the outage affected nearly 3,700 customers, about half of the Warren, Minn., -based co-op’s business. By Friday morning, at least 800 customers were still without power.

Most of the problems were north of Minnesota Highway 11 in Kittson and Roseau counties.

Not all repairs could be completed by Friday night, Schmidt said. “Repairs are going slower than we hoped.”

Weather wasn’t a factor in the rate of repairs, he said, noting that much of the ice and snow that snapped lines and poles was not replenished by Friday’s snowfall.

Xcel Energy reported no major outages remaining in the Red River Valley on Friday. About 6,500 customers were without power for a time Thursday.

Nodak Electric Cooperative, based in Grand Forks, reported that about 2,000 customers lost power early Thursday, mostly in a band from Lankin, N.D., to Mayville, N.D. Power was restored to all customers by around noon Friday, according to Dan Schaefer, line superintendent.

Forecast

* Tonight: Sunny, with a high near 45.

* Saturday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 29.

* Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 55.

* Sunday night: A 20 percent chance of showers after 2 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36.

* Columbus Day: A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after 8 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 55.

* Monday night: A 30 percent chance of showers before 8 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35.

Tags: news, weather