North Dakota is known for a few things to people who have never visited — our college football team (Go Bison!) and having cold winters. What else would we talk about in North Dakota if not about the weather?

We recently got our first snow and freezing rain of the season here in Bismarck, which gave us all a taste of what’s to come. In the weeks before that first snow and freezing rain, we had colder temperatures and frosty mornings, but nothing that screamed “Winter is coming.” That weekend before the snow first flew though? We had 75-degree-F temperatures and plenty of sunshine.  

Something I think those of us in the North will never pass up are those last few days of summer weather before winter settles in. I spent that entire warm weekend outside, roping in the sunshine, getting chores done, fixing fences and otherwise trying to soak in the last bits of fall before the seasons fully change.

I’m a Northerner through and through, and love winter as much as the summer. Even though the -30 windchills are never fun, there’s nothing like the quiet crunch of snow under your boots, or the feeling of a still morning when it snowed the night before.

I got to thinking during those few nice days though, about how much we were taking advantage of the nice weather. Usually, at the first sign of chilly weather in the fall, we’re digging out our winter wardrobe and making sure our ice scrapers are in our cars. A 60-degree day in the fall always feels colder than a 60-degree day in the spring. I think part of the reason for this is our appreciation for the reprieve in the weather.

Positives and negatives

Everyone can be negative sometimes about winter, especially here in the Northern Plains. But I think that each season has things that make us both appreciate and dread those conditions.

With winter, people dread battling the biting cold and windchills, constantly digging out waterers and vehicles from snowstorms, and otherwise being cold for four months straight.

Spring, which we lovingly call mud season, has challenges and difficulties all its own. Random spring snowstorms can delay planting, cause muddy calving pens, bring bugs and just mean overall soggy land until the temperatures heat up.

Speaking of heating up, with summer comes hotter-than-needed temperatures, flies and drought. I love the long summer nights, but 99-degree days at a rodeo in jeans and cowboy boots? No one needs to be sweating quite that much.

Fall is a favorite season but brings the difficulty of frosty mornings and hot days, losing an hour of daylight, and bringing the swarm of box elder bugs covering houses.

Even still, each of these seasons brings conditions we love and appreciate. With winter comes a slew of holidays where we are able to spend time with loved ones, and the winter weather conditions give us more time to spend inside without the guilt relaxing on a nice day can bring. Also underrated during winter? Soup season — one of the best winter activities to do inside.

Spring brings the warm air that lets you finally take a deep breath outside after the long winter. The snow melts, the grass starts to turn green, and nature seems to come alive again.

I’ll always say there is nothing that can compare to those long summer nights we have here in the Great Plains, where you can stay outside enjoying our beautiful state until the sun goes down after 10 p.m. The heat of the day breaks somewhere around 6:30 or 7 p.m., which then turns into some of the best sunsets I’ve ever witnessed.

Of course, summer also brings rodeo season, where you see friends every weekend and get a chance to enjoy those long nights with some of the best company around.

With fall comes harvest, and the satisfaction of a job well-done after caring for crops and fields all season long. Also, even as we boast less trees than our neighboring states, the leaves changing colors are still one of the best signs that fall has arrived.

So as winter begins its return to the Dakotas, take a minute to think of the positive side of the season, and appreciate what comes with the next.