Editors note: This story was updated to include what highways have opened.
JAMESTOWN – Interstate 94 from Bismarck to Jamestown is open along with other highways in the Stutsman County area following a winter storm that dropped 14 inches on the city.
The North Dakota Department of Transportation and the North Dakota Highway Patrol have also opened the following highways:
- Interstate 94 from Bismarck to Jamestown.
- Interstate 29 from Grand Forks to the South Dakota border.
- U.S. Highway 52 from Jamestown to Harvey.
- U.S. Highway 281 from Jamestown to the South Dakota border.
I-94 from Jamestown to Fargo is tentatively scheduled to open at 4 p.m Wednesday, the NDDOT said. Just because the highways are open does not necessarily mean the roadways are clear, the NDDOT said.
A no-travel advisory remains in effect for Barnes, Cass Dickey, Kidder, LaMoure, McIntosh, Stutsman and Ransom counties.
Jamestown received 14 inches of snow Tuesday into Wednesday, Feb. 28-March 1, according to measurements taken at 6 a.m. Wednesday at the North Dakota State Hospital. The storm caused multiple highways in Stutsman County to close overnight.
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The snowfall amounts were expected to increase a little bit after the Jamestown area received some flurries throughout Wednesday morning, said Megan Jones, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Bismarck.
The snow tapered off by the end of the morning, but she said the winds are expected to diminish throughout the remainder of the day.
“As this snow moves off, the winds are going to be dying down through the afternoon and into the evening,” she said.
City of Jamestown crews were expected to begin clearing snow in residential areas as soon as possible on Wednesday, March 1.
The city engineer’s office announced at about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday that work would begin in residential areas. City crews will clear snow in the downtown business district at 11 p.m. Wednesday and continue until finished. The schedule is contingent upon changing weather conditions, snow accumulations and blowing and drifting snow.
The Jamestown Public School District implemented virtual learning for Wednesday. The Two Rivers Activity Center, OnTRAC Learning Center and the Jamestown Parks and Recreation’s administration office are closed. City Hall offices were tentatively expected to open at noon, and residential garbage and recycling collections will not occur on Wednesday.
Stutsman County Sheriff Chad Kaiser said Wednesday morning the roads in Jamestown and in the rural areas are terrible. He said the rural roads have deep snowdrifts.
“Have patience and like usual stay home for awhile until the crews can get caught up on the snow (removal),” he said. “It makes it a lot more difficult when you are dealing with people who are stuck, plows trying to get around the people who are stuck. It actually slows up the process for the plow guys.”
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Kaiser said the Stutsman County Sheriff’s Office received four or five calls of people getting stuck.
“We had a few of them that stayed overnight in their vehicles,” he said. “Wreckers wouldn’t come out.”
He said the Sheriff’s Office used the M-ATV, or a mine-resistant ambush protected all-terrain vehicle, to get around in the county because of the deep snowdrifts.
“That’s what we go rescue people with,” he said. “We go on calls. Instead of taking our pickups, which would get stuck, we take that. We’ve used it several times to get people who are stranded. We load up as many people as we can in there and bring it back to town.”
Jones said the temperatures in Jamestown will remain in the lower teens Wednesday evening with a low of minus 8. For Thursday, the Jamestown area can expect a high near 21 with wind chill values as low as minus 15.
“Luckily, the cold is not going to last very long especially compared to what we’ve been dealing with with some of the cold snaps this winter,” she said.
She said the temperatures in the Jamestown area for Friday are expected to rise to around 32 degrees. She said the chances of precipitation look limited through the weekend as well.
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