Ice storm causes semitrailers to get stuck near Cleveland, ND

Masaki Ova, The Jamestown Sun, N.D.
·2 min read
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Dec. 26—JAMESTOWN — An ice storm Monday into Tuesday morning, Dec. 25-26, caused semitrailers to get stuck near Cleveland on Interstate 94 and other areas in Stutsman County where there are hills, according to Sheriff Chad Kaiser.

"They are bad. Everything is bad," Kaiser said about the highways. "The sand trucks are having a hard time."

He said the North Dakota Department of Transportation's sand trucks were going in the ditch because of the icy conditions.

"Anywhere there's a hill, there's nothing (no traction)," Kaiser said.

He said semitrailers were having trouble getting up a hill on I-94 near Cleveland and wreckers were having difficulty pulling them up the hill.

As of 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, no travel was advised for Barnes, Dickey, Kidder, LaMoure, Logan, McIntosh and Stutsman counties.

Lt. Nick Hardy with the Jamestown Police Department said there is no travel advised in the city of Jamestown. He said the street department has been trying to sand the roads since early this morning.

"Obviously the ice is very thick so it's taking a long time to do anything," he said. "They are getting to some main travel roads right now. They aren't doing any side streets at this time."

Hardy said the department has responded to a few accidents in Jamestown. He said if anyone needs to travel, take your time.

Hardy and Kaiser both said the ice is at least a quarter-inch thick on the roads.

An ice storm Monday into Tuesday morning brought a tenth of an inch of precipitation to Jamestown, according to measurements taken at 6 a.m. at the North Dakota State Hospital.

The ice storm warning was expected to remain in effect until 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The freezing rain is expected to move out of the Jamestown area by Wednesday, Dec. 27.

"Throughout the next couple of days, it looks pretty nice and (higher temperatures) should get that all melted off," said Megan Jones, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Bismarck.

Jones said it is very unusual for the state to get an ice storm.

"There is a low-pressure system wave to our south and we are just getting enough warm air wrapped up and around that low-pressure system so it's warm above the surface," she said. "So you start with initially snow but then it all ends up melting as it goes through that warm layer above the surface. ... It's falling as rain but then it freezes on the surface because it is below freezing."

Hardy said the ice storm also caused a tree to fall on a power line around 5:30 a.m. in Jamestown. He said the tree was arcing on the power line but there was no fire.