7 Things North Dakotans Know About 20 Below That Out-of-Staters Can’t Imagine

Twenty below isn’t just a number.

North Dakotans know wind can make a cold day feel far colder than that, and you plan around it.

Here’s what that kind of cold teaches North Dakotans that many out-of-staters can’t imagine.

Note: This is general information, not medical advice. Wind chill thresholds and advisories are subject to change, so check the current guidance from the National Weather Service.

1. Frostbite Times

You don’t need a twenty-below thermometer reading to feel something close to it.

A day at 0 degrees with a 15 mph wind works out to a wind chill of -19 degrees, the National Weather Service says.

At that wind chill, exposed skin can freeze in 30 minutes.

An Extreme Cold Warning covers wind chills of -40 degrees or colder.

The warning begins at a wind chill 21 degrees colder than that.

2. Road Salt’s Limits

Road salt gets far less effective as it gets colder.

North Dakota’s Department of Transportation (NDDOT) says one pound of salt can melt about 46.3 pounds of ice at 30 degrees.

At -6 degrees, that same pound melts only 3.2 pounds.

The figures stop at -6 degrees.

The colder it gets, the more salt it takes to melt snow and ice.

If you’re driving in extreme cold, the department turns to scraping compacted snow and ice and spreading sand for traction.

3. Indoor Recess

At a wind chill of twenty below, recess normally stays indoors in Bismarck’s elementary schools.

The district’s weather policy says outdoor recess won’t normally happen when the wind chill drops below -10 degrees, based on the National Weather Service website.

If you’re checking the forecast, a wind chill of -20 degrees is well past that line.

Health and safety is the major consideration when it decides about sending kids outside in extreme cold.

4. Frozen Water Lines

Deep cold can reach the service line that brings water into your house.

In March 2019, the City of Minot reported numerous frozen water lines at homes and businesses.

The city’s public works director pointed to little snow to insulate the ground, a late snowfall and an extremely cold January and February.

Crews thawed lines with a pulse unit that pumps water into the service line to break up the frozen area.

One job could take up to a day.

The director’s test for homeowners: Run the tap for five minutes, then check the water temperature.

If it’s below 40 degrees, the service line coming into your house could be in danger of freezing.

Many locals treat that faucet check as routine.

Out-of-staters often wouldn’t think to try it.

5. Cold Advisory for Newborn Livestock

Before the scale's sun and humidity adjustments, a wind chill of twenty below for two hours reaches extreme on the National Weather Service's Cold Advisory for Newborn Livestock.

The advisory runs from none to extreme.

Extreme is reserved for rare and particularly dangerous situations.

The first tier, slight, starts at a wind chill below 41 degrees for two or more hours.

That sounds mild to you and me.

On the base scale, extreme begins at a wind chill of -18 degrees or colder for two or more hours.

With a tenth of an inch of precipitation, a wind chill below 32 degrees for two or more hours also reaches extreme on the base scale.

Sunny skies and high humidity shift those cutoffs by 10 degrees in opposite directions.

6. January 2019 Cold Snap

The late January 2019 cold snap went well past twenty below in northern North Dakota.

On January 30, the weather service's Grand Forks office listed lows of -38 degrees at Cavalier, Walhalla, Cando and Langdon.

Grand Forks Airport reached -32 degrees on January 31, a record low for the date that broke the old mark of -29 degrees from 1996.

Wind chills fell to -61 degrees at Grand Forks Airport and -56 degrees at Fargo's airport on January 29.

Much of eastern North Dakota was under No Travel Advised that Tuesday because of blowing snow and limited visibility.

North Dakota's Department of Transportation says that label means you shouldn't travel because hazardous conditions may make it unsafe.

Snowplows may temporarily stop plowing when zero visibility makes the road unsafe for anybody.

In the Grand Forks office's region, many school districts and universities closed for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Delayed start times followed on Thursday.

7. Extra Feed for Cattle

Beef cattle need more feed energy as the cold gets deeper.

North Dakota State University (NDSU) Extension has a rule of thumb for how much more.

Cattle begin to feel cold stress once the weather drops below their lower critical temperature, the bottom of their comfort zone.

If you're wondering where that point sits, it's 18 degrees for livestock with dry, heavy coats.

For well-acclimated animals in calm conditions, the figure has been -6 degrees.

Below that point, the rule of thumb is to raise total digestible nutrients (TDN), a measure of feed energy, by 1% for every degree.

The example is a 1,400-pound cow in her eighth month of gestation.