An Alberta Clipper Has Its Sights On North Dakota W/Shovable Snow

An Alberta Clipper has its sights on North Dakota with shovable snow likely for parts of North Dakota.

More on the Alberta Clipper and its potential impacts in a second.

We will actually see two chances for snow across North Dakota over the course of the next week, according to the National Weather Service in Bismarck.

Our first opportunity for a wintry mix, that could give us a light glazing of ice, and accumulations of an inch of snow or less will develop early this evening. Winds are expected to increase on the overnight, gusting up to 30 miles per hour, which could cause some patchy blowing snow.

This could lead to some slippery roads to begin your commute on Thursday morning.

A more significant snow event for North Dakota is possible this weekend, starting sometime early on Saturday.

We are still a little ways out to guess snowfall totals at this point, but several weather agencies are saying this shot of snow could be of the "shovable" variety.

Typically Alberta Clippers are moisture-deprived and snowfall totals are limited, but every once in a while a narrow band can drop several inches to half of a foot or more of snow.

The wind can sometimes be an issue with Alberta Clippers.

After a brief warm-up before the snow, winds usually develop on the backside of an Alberta Clipper system that can lead to significant blowing snow.

At the time of this article, it doesn't appear that the wind will be a big issue with the clipper system for North Dakota this weekend.

(SEE ALSO: One meteorologist is predicting 20-below weather all the way down to Arkansas this weekend)

It appears the extreme meteorologist's prediction for an arctic blast for North Dakota and much of the country will be off by a couple of days. It was expected to begin this Saturday, January 11th, but it looks like Arctic air will return on Monday, January 13th.

This is also typical after an Alberta Clipper, as we normally go into a "deep freeze" after a clipper system passes.

Be weather-aware this weekend if you have travel plans.