Christmas Day blizzard: ‘It looked like an ocean’
By Jack Dura
Farmer Staff Writer
Joe Spier spent 37 hours stuck at a J&A Services location near Mandaree as a blizzard swept North Dakota starting Sunday, Dec. 25.
A grader eventually arrived to carve out a path, Spier said, as he and fellow workers kept warm, made sure their site’s wells kept going, hunkered down and waited out the blizzard they saw coming.
The Watford City region took between 12 and 18 inches of snow, the National Weather Service reported, as 16 inches of snow fell on Watford City by 8:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 26.
That morning, Tim and Heather Oestreich had to “break out” of their house, Heather said, as 5 feet of snow piled up against their door when they tried to let their dog out.
“We are from New York, and we get snow and ice but this was like nothing I have ever experienced,” she said.
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