| Summary: | North Dakota Climate and Its Impact Climate conditions have been a major part of North Dakota's history and today continue to shape both the livelihood and lifestyles of its inhabitants. Early inhabitants of what is now North Dakota such as the Assiniboine, Cheyenne, and Dakota, lived nomadic lives based on the seasonal migration of wildlife on which they depended. The herds of buffalo and other big game roamed where weather conditions provided Hie best forage from favorable precipitation and temperatures. Over time. Native American agricultural societies such as the Hidatsa, Mandan, and Ankara tribes became established by taking advantage of good growing conditions in the temperate climate. As these tribal societies moved westward from the Great Lakes or northward along the Missouri River, the differing climatic conditions they encountered forced them to adapt their agricultural practices to the climate of the region. At times these climatic conditions proved difficult. Historical investigations of tree ring data indicate the presence of a drought period exceeding forty years in the late 1400s AD. These conditions forced tribes, such as the Mandan, to migrate to better climate conditions to the east near the Great Lakes before their eventual return in the mid-1500s. Such severe droughts arc uncommon, but not unprecedented across the Northern Plains. A more extreme episodic drought is believed to have occurred during a period from 1200 AD to 1400 AD. During this period, drought extended across much of the center of North America, forcing most of the Native American inhabitants southward toward the Gulf of Mexico. This reduced the Northern Plains to a harsh, unforgiving region devoid of the precipitation necessary to support not only an agrarian way of life but most wildlife as well. As often happens with changing climate regimes, time would bring an eventual improving climate permitting a vibrant Native American culture to flourish once again across the Northern Plains. The intense weather conditions presented challenges to both established inhabitants and visitors. During their expedition seeking the Northwest Passage, Lewis and Clark conducted scientific observations of weather. From journal entries during their over-winter stay near present day Washburn from December 1804 to April 1805, they detailed frigid cold temperatures and frequent blizzards. From Fort, Mandan, their camp along the Missouri River, they recorded temperatures during December 1804 that fell to near minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit several times and often below minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Compared to modem climate normals, these were indeed harsh conditions but not unobserved even in present day. Later in the 1800s, early Euro-American settlers observed vast seasonal climate extremes. During this time of North Dakota's growing settlement, two contributing factors played a considerable role in shaping the future of the State: weather and railroad. The potential extreme weather shifts from summer to winter, sometimes exceeding 150 degrees Fahrenheit between the seasons, presented harsh and challenging conditions for frontier settlers to endure. Given North Dakota's latitude, many Scandinavian and northern European immigrants, already familiar with 516 2013-2015 North Dakota Blue Book
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