BISMARCK, ND (KXNET) — It’s the start of winter weather and Bismarck has already set a snow record.

I-94 west near the Hailstone Rest Stop. (ND highway cam)

After more than a day of ongoing snow, the National Weather Service says it appears Bismarck broke the record for total snowfall on October 26. The old record was 3 inches in 1966. The new preliminary record set yesterday was 8.5 inches.

And that, in part, is why you’re still seeing a lot of accumulated snow, ice and slush everywhere you drive.

Bismarck’s snow total may be a record, but it’s nowhere near what other communities are reporting. According to KX Meteorologist Stone Schafer, snow totals in other locations since October 25 to now include: Washburn 14 inches, Surrey 13 inches, Minot 13 inches, Hazen 9.2 inches.

Most roads in the KX viewing area are snow and ice-covered, according to the North Dakota Highway Patrol Road Map. Viewers who have been out and about this morning say their travel speeds have been around 45 to 50 mph driving on I-94 through the Bismarck-Mandan area. Roads in rural areas are as slow or slower.

Street crews in Bismarck and Mandan have been out, leaving homeowners with the familiar “driveway bump” from the snow piles pushed away from the streets by the plows.

The good news is the snow is expected to end and move out of the region starting Friday morning, leaving behind partly cloudy skies through the weekend with temperatures in the 20s and 30s.