Dangerous wind chills blanket the Dakotas
• BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- Dangerously cold weather has settled over the Dakotas, but it should be gone by the weekend.
• The National Weather Service on Thursday issued wind chill advisories and warnings throughout North Dakota and South Dakota into Friday morning. Forecasters said wind chills in some areas could drop to as low as minus 55 degrees -- conditions in which frostbite can occur within minutes.
• Many schools around South Dakota called off classes on Thursday due to the cold.
• A winter weather advisory also was posted for the northern Black Hills of South Dakota early Thursday, with up to 8 inches of snow expected.
• The forecast calls for much warmer temperatures in both states by the weekend as the arctic air moves out.
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ND has better winter wheat snow cover than SD
• BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- North Dakota winter wheat farmers are enjoying better snow cover protection for their crops than their counterparts in South Dakota.
• The Agriculture Department says protection for winter wheat in North Dakota is rated 28 percent poor, 44 percent adequate and 28 percent excellent. That compares with 84 percent poor in South Dakota and only 16 percent adequate.
• The average snow depth in North Dakota at the start of the week was 4.1 inches, compared with 2 inches in South Dakota, which has been harder-hit by drought.
• Winter wheat is planted in the fall and begins to grow before turning dormant when winter cold arrives. Snow covering the ground helps insulate the young plants that reawaken with warmer weather in the spring and grow to maturity.
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Cold snap prompts many SD schools to shut down
• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- School is canceled in many South Dakota cities because of cold weather.
• Sioux Falls, Aberdeen and Mitchell schools were among those calling off classes Thursday because of dangerous wind chills.
• The National Weather Service says the wind chill could drop to as low as minus (Continued on page 15)
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