Saturn Rises Over ND - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Saturn Rises Over ND

A late winter storm blew across North Dakota today, leaving behind some big snowfall totals in some areas.

The storm was named "Saturn" by The Weather Channel.

And for people across the state who've had some pretty mild weather the past couple of winters, it may have seemed they woke up on a different planet.

Jim Olson shows us how it looked early this morning.

The morning air was filled with snow - and the familiar sound of man and machine trying to deal with it. Snow plow drivers had an early wake up call, heading out while you slept to give you a shot at making it to your destination Monday morning.

And, if your travel was confined to the major roads, you were in pretty good shape. Some people even seemed fired up to get at the winter driving.

(You like being out in this weather?) "Love it!" (You love driving in this?) "Love it - always lived in North Dakota, I'm used to it."

At the main fire station in Minot, the morning ritual includes removing any snow that's accumulated overnight - and the firefighters had the lot cleaned by 7am

(John Potts, Minot Firefighter) "Every morning about six o'clock we get up and shovel all the snow out of the way." (Fun?) "It starts out fun, then it's work." (After a while, it gets old?) "Yes, sir!"

(You guy have to make sure you can get out and about, huh?) (Dustin Safranski, Minot Firefighter) "We sure do, have to be able to respond no matter what the conditions."

(John Potts, Minot Firefighter) "We just got done clearing the pad and the driveways and noticed this gentleman was stuck, so..."

"This guy" missed a driveway and ended up halfway into a ditch. But fast work by the firefighters had things under control pretty quickly - along with another sound of a winter storm morning - revving engines and spinning tires of a truck pulling a motorist's fat from the fire.

(Just another service provided by your local firefighters, huh?) "Yeah, they're very good at it!"

Yes, it helps to be good in the winter to deal with a morning like Saturn sent our way. Jim Olson, KX News.