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Winter came, better late than never for some, for others it meant some back-breaking shoveling. 

For the youngsters, it was the snow day they were waiting for all season. 

A combination of storms early last week left roads closed, schools closed and brought some winter business to local stores. 

“I heard we sold a lot of belts and chains, mostly parts for snow-blowers and a lot of ice melt,” Jill Post of Post’s Hardware in Hankinson said Thursday. 

Citizens of Hankinson and surrounding communities had the snow removal equipment going all day Wednesday. 

Some of the heaviest snow totals in North Dakota accumulated in Richland County, specifically in Lidgerwood and Hankinson. There were reports of 10-18 inches locally between the Sunday and Tuesday storms. 

County Highway 11, and to the south caught the brunt of the snow storm. The density of the snow helped out when the winds picked up to avoid all out blizzard conditions.

The snow plows were out in full force in Richland County. They ran about 10 snow plows late into the night Tuesday until 7 p.m. Wednesday night, but this didn’t prevent the storm from closing nearly all the main roads in the area. Interstate 29 was closed late Tuesday night and didn’t re-open until noon on Wednesday. 

“It’s a lot tougher to get everything clear when you have a heavy snow like that,” Hankinson Mayor Joe O’Meara said. 

“We are lucky because there wasn’t much snow here previously so we at least had a place to put it,” he continued. 

O’Meara expects snow removal to continue in Hankinson for a couple days and urges citizens to be patient because removing this type of snow takes time. 

Road conditions are expected to improve over the next few days, as the plows catch up, and those who were excited to see all the new snow better get out and enjoy it, the forecast for next week calls for temperatures in the 40’s.