Red River Valley Sees First Harsh Winter in Two Years

We are seeing brutally cold temperatures for the first time this winter.

People of the Red River Valley have had their fair share of some chilly temps. So when the frost comes to stay, are people going away?
 
“I don’t think it’s that bad out I remember the years it wasn’t above zero for a whole month,” says Robert Stone of Fargo.
 
Many bikers and walkers are still filling downtown but for some life-long locals, the bitter cold is still an adjustment.
 
“They’re a big deal because we’re not used to them. We haven’t had anything this winter or last winter that was this cold but in terms of North Dakota, Minnesota winters this is kind of average stuff. Most years it happens every year,” says KVRR Chief Meteorologist, Rob Kupec.
 
Marlee Robertson has lived in Fargo all of her life but dealing with this year’s cold has been a challenge.
 
“When it gets in the teens I start to get a little whiny. Like I just want to put my PJ’s on and stay home,” says Marlee Robertson of Fargo.
 
“If you just had one little shot of cold you can kind of stay in the house and go away from it if you get a long winter of this not only do you get used to it, if you just stay in the house you’ll never come out all winter,” says Kupec.
 
“But it turns out the cold isn’t all bad, you can even have a fun little science experiment. Just heat up a cup of water and voila.”
 
“In 1973 the whole month of December it never got above zero. It got up to five above and it felt like a heat wave so this isn’t bad at all,” says Stone.
 
So are we in store for another dose of December 1973?
 
“We’ll still have wind chills tonight and tomorrow but we’ll start to transition out of this so really by Tuesday we’ll be done with it,” says Kupec.
 
With that being said, it may take a little longer before this bench sits warm company.
 
As for Sarah’s science experiment, the colder it gets, the better it works.