Here comes winter: Major storm possible Friday into Saturday as temps hit zero

• Chicken

Bridget Bapst of Richardton, originally from Ohio, dances in the Champ’s Chicken costume outside of the County Line Truck Stop along Highway 22 in north Dickinson on Wednesday. She had relatively mild weather for January in North Dakota, with highs reaching 39 degrees. The warm weather isn’t predicted to last, though, AccuWeather.com predicts highs in the teens and lows below zero for Friday and Saturday. Press Photo by Katherine Grandstrand

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GRAND FORKS — The first major winter storm of 2013 could hit the region Friday and Saturday, with the potential for snowfall of 6 inches or more in some areas, the National Weather Service said.

The Fargo area should see lighter amounts of snow, said Dave Kellenbenz, a senior meteorologist at the weather service office in Grand Forks.

“But depending on the track of this thing, if you get ice, it’s not going to be good either. So it looks like a pretty large storm system,” he said.

Warmer weather and southerly winds are expected today ahead of the potential storm. Kellenbenz said tonight will bring increasing chances for freezing rain or drizzle in the Fargo area, and Friday could start with a mix of freezing rain and snow before transitioning to snow Friday afternoon and evening.

“Probably the worst of the conditions are going to be that Friday evening rush hour through Friday night and then into early Saturday,” he said.

Those worsening conditions will likely stay throughout next week, said WDAY’s Chief Meteorologist John Wheeler.

Wheeler said while temps might even dabble with 40 degrees today, this weekend will likely touch zero, and it will stay in the single digits into next week. Wheeler blamed the cold spurt on Arctic air coming into the area.

“This won’t be like the coldest January weather ever, but it’ll be the coldest of this winter,” he said.

Tags: news, weather, winter, storm