North Dakota

Records set over the weekend; recapping the coldest part of our Arctic blast

Published

2 years ago

January 15, 2024

Records set over the weekend; recapping the coldest part of our Arctic blast

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Temperatures and wind chills were not only dangerously cold over the weekend, but they also broke some records across central and western North Dakota.

Dickinson experienced some of the coldest temperatures, and, therefore, saw the most records broken! First, at 4:40 a.m. Saturday, a -33° temperature and 29 mph wind combined to produce a brutally cold -70° wind chill. That’s now the record for the coldest wind chill in Dickinson since the wind chill formula was updated to be more accurate in 2001. Bismarck, Minot and Williston also saw their coldest wind chills on record since 2001, in the 60s below zero on Saturday morning.

New wind chill records across central and western ND(KFYR)

Here’s a look at some of the other coldest wind chills from across central and western North Dakota over the weekend:

Coldest observed wind chills over the weekend(KFYR)

And you could compare Saturday’s minimum wind chill of -70° in Dickinson to Saturday’s maximum heat index in Miami, Florida, of 92°, to get an incredible 162° difference in the apparent, or “feels like,” temperature across the country!

Difference in apparent temperature from ND to Florida on Saturday, January 13(KFYR)

The -33° temperature Saturday morning in Dickinson that helped contribute to the record-setting wind chill is the coldest temperature recorded in Dickinson on any day since 1990 — 34 years ago! Very cold temperatures in the 20s below zero were seen elsewhere for lows, but these have been observed in Bismarck, Williston and Minot within the past few years.

Low temperatures from Saturday and Sunday(KFYR)

We’re not done with the Dickinson records. The Queen City only saw a high on Saturday of -21°, which is a new record coldest high temperature for January 13. Minot’s high on Saturday was at -19°, which is also a new daily record coldest high temperature in the Magic City.

Record coldest highs set on Saturday(KFYR)

If you’re curious how these numbers compare, click here for more information on the coldest temperatures and wind chills ever recorded in North Dakota.

For those wondering how the wind chills observed this weekend would compare to wind chills calculated using the old formula (anything before 2001), here are a couple of handy charts.

"Old" vs. new wind chill examples — “Old” vs. new wind chill examples(KFYR)

"New" vs. "old" wind chill charts — “New” vs. “old” wind chill charts(Golden Gate Weather Services)

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North Dakota

Broncos won’t repeat as NCHC hockey champs, lose to N. Dakota: ‘We broke down’

Published

4 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Broncos won’t repeat as NCHC hockey champs, lose to N. Dakota: ‘We broke down’

Kalamazoo — There’ll be a new champion in the NCHC.

Will Zellers scored the game-winning goal in the third period as No. 3 North Dakota downed No. 4 Western Michigan, 5-3, Friday night at Lawson Arena. The Broncos never led and trailed all of the third period, though a late push nearly tied the game with the net empty.

“Overall in the game, I thought it was a pretty tightly contested effort. I thought they just scored too easy,” Western Michigan coach Pat Ferschweiler said. “You know, for us, we had a couple breakdowns, and they’re so talented, so good, they took advantage when we broke down.”

The teams finish the regular season Saturday night. Western Michigan came into Friday’s game tied with Denver in standings points and five points behind North Dakota, needing that many to get a share of the Penrose Cup it won last season en route to an NCAA championship, too.

As far as regular season results go, the Broncos will play for second seed in the NCHC Tournament, needing to outpace Denver, which plays Arizona State this weekend.

Western Michigan (23-9-1, 15-7-1 NCHC) goaltender Hampton Slukynsky made 16 saves on 20 shots in the loss while North Dakota’s Jan Spunar stopped 22 of 25 shots. It was a battle of two of the NCHC’s top netminders, and each made key stops in a tight-checking, physical game.

Zellers put North Dakota (25-7-1, 17-5-1) up 4-2 4:42 into the third period off an assist from Detroit Red Wings draft choice Dylan James.

“He kind of made a play out of nothing there,” said North Dakota coach Dane Jackson, who is in his first season as head coach after being on the coaching staff since 2006. “And that was a really nice kind of moment where you go OK, we got a little got a little leeway here, and we can just kind of play a little bit more free.”

North Dakota took a 3-2 lead into the third period with goals from defenseman Sam Laurila alongside forwards Ollie Josephson and Josh Zakreski. Defenseman Zach Bookman and forward Liam Valente scored for Western Michigan.

One too many times in the second frame, Western Michigan’s blue line let a North Dakota forward in all alone to face Slukynsky, who stopped a couple of rushes in the opening minutes of the period.

With four minutes until the intermission, the Broncos finally got burned. On a feed from linemate Anthony Menghini, Lakreski cut to the glove side of a sprawling Slukynsky and beat him with the backhand. The goal gave North Dakota the 3-2 lead, after a seeing-eye shot from Bookman along the right wall had tied it up two apiece 8:10 into the period.

“I actually thought the second period was our best period,” Ferschweiler said. “… We started to take over. We got the goal, tied 2-2, and are kind of just humming along. Four minutes left, we just hand them a goal. Blown coverage. That was inexcusable, honestly, with some of our better players on the ice.”

The opening period played out as a back and forth track meet through the neutral zone as each side settled in. Laurila put North Dakota up 1-0 with his first career goal. After Slukynsky denied him on a trio of tries earlier in the shift, he fired a shot to beat the Western Michigan netminder 4:40 into the game.

It took just a minute and 34 seconds after Laurila’s opener for Western Michigan’s top line to get it right back. A blue-collar shift from captain Owen Michaels fed linemate Will Whitelaw along the left boards, and he sprung Valente for a breakaway goal that evened up the score.

“I thought we gave it to them too easy a couple times tonight,” Whitelaw said. “And I think when you’re playing a team like that, obviously they’re gonna put it in your net. But I think it’ll be a big lesson for our group going forward.”

For the better part of the first period, the Lawson Lunatics peppered North Dakota defenseman Jake Livanavage with jeers, but he got his own licks in with 7:48 left in the first period as he fed Josephson right at the net for the 2-1 goal. That score held through the first period.

With 2:02 remaining and Slukynsky pulled, forward Zaccharya Wisdom pulled Western Michigan within one. He nearly had the equalizer with 40 seconds on the clock on a backdoor try, but he mistimed the shot. Mac Swanson scored an empty-netter with 20.7 seconds on the clock to clinch the win, and with it the Penrose Cup, presented to North Dakota in the locker room and then paraded around the ice.

“It’s the hardest regular season championship to win, in my opinion,” North Dakota forward Ben Strinden said. “So it’s awesome. Obviously, it’s not our end goal, but we’re going to enjoy it for sure.”

cearegood@detroitnews.com

@ConnorEaregood

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