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Shaded-relief map of Kensal, North Dakota: rivers, roads, the city limits and where the water drains.
NORTH DAKOTA · STUTSMAN COUNTY

Kensal

150 people, 1,540 ft above sea level in Stutsman County.

1,540 ftElevation, city center
150People, 2024 estimate
1 sq miLand area
Sunny 46°
Sunny now Dew point 30° · SSE 25 mph · high 41°
City of Kensal River Interstate 2 miles
Explore the plate Order a print

The Kensal plate. Relief from Copernicus GLO-30; rivers and lakes from USGS NHD; watersheds from the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset; roads and city limits from Census TIGER 2024.

MILE1
TODAY

Today in Kensal

NWS forecast and National Blend of Models · updated 3:00 PM CST
RIGHT NOW CARRINGTON (K46D) · 3:55 PM
Sunny
46° Sunny Feels like 38° · high of 41° near 4 PM
WindSSE 25 mphgusts 33
Humidity53%rising to 82% by morning
Pressure30.02 in →steady
Visibility10 mihaze-free
CloudsClear
UV index—no forecast
Dew point 30° · Dry43° by Tuesday: more humid
DryComfortableStickyMuggyOppressive
NEXT RAIN
Rain
Wednesday40% chance · showers
LIKELY AMOUNT—amounts come within 3 days
LAST RAINNov. 110.02 in · 3 dry days
ALERTS & OUTLOOKS
No watches or warnings for Stutsman County
NWS Bismarck and the Storm Prediction Center · checked 4:16 PM
SUN & MOON
↑ 7:37 AM5:01 PM ↓
9 h 23 m of daylight, 3 minutes less than yesterday
Waxing crescent, 26% lit. Next full moon: Nov. 24.
AIR & POLLEN
—
Air quality index ·
No pollen source yet.

The next three days, hour by hour

Sky: clear, cloudy, night Rain likely National Blend of Models
SATURDAY, NOV. 14
SUNDAY, NOV. 15
MONDAY, NOV. 16
TUESDAY, NOV. 17
4p
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
4p
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
4p
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
mostly sunny
mostly sunny
mostly sunny
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
partly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy day
mostly sunny
partly cloudy day
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy day
mostly cloudy day
partly cloudy day
TEMPERATURE °F
41°
34°
50°
38°
56°
38°
CHANCE OF RAIN
50%
WIND, MPH
20
18
16
15
15
15
18
18
14
12
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8
8
9
9
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7
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11
HOW IT FEELS · DEW POINT
Dry: dew points 26 to 29° ↑ Humid air returns More humid: 43° by Tuesday

The next seven days, and how sure we are

Forecast, with the range 8 in 10 ensemble members agree on Normal, about 80° / 62°
SAT Nov. 14 Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
41° 32°
0% rain — SSE 21, gusts 33 A
SUN Nov. 15 Mostly sunny; warmer Mostly sunny; warmer
52° 37°
0% rain — S 17, gusts 29 B
MON Nov. 16 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
57° 37°
0% rain — SSW 9 C
TUE Nov. 17 Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
51° 35°
0% rain — SE 8 C
WED Nov. 18 Chance of showers Chance of showers
45° 33°
40% rain up to 0.1″ WNW 10 C
THU Nov. 19 Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
40° 30°
10% rain — NE 5 B
FRI Nov. 20 Chance of showers Chance of showers
40° 30°
40% rain up to 0.3″ E 10 C
How sure are we? AModels agree: highs within 4° BSome spread: within 8° CWide spread: check back
Range from the National Blend of Models percentiles · graded on Forecast Scores
AIR MAIL

Where today’s air came from

The air arriving over Kensal about 5,000 feet above the ground was over the open Pacific three days ago, and over the northern Plains a day ago, about 2,070 miles back along its path. It came down from about 8,900 feet up, warming and drying as it sank. Near the ground the air came from British Columbia; at 10,000 feet, from the Pacific north of Hawaii. It feels dry all the same. Traced back 72 hours through NOAA’s hourly RAP analyses and the GFS beyond them, nine paths at each of three heights.

THIS WEEK IN 1939 Nov. 14, 1939

The hottest this week has been

71° on Nov. 14, 1939, the hottest reading for this week of the year since 1909. Next is 69° in 2005.

69°
71°
20051939
Source: NOAA RCC-ACIS, the Mc Henry 3 W record since 1909.
MILE2
THE GROUND

What Kensal stands on

Kensal’s center stands about 1,540 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 1,500 ft to 1,580 ft, a difference of 80 ft: gently rolling country.

Under the town center the state geologic map shows Pierre Formation (shale), from the Late Cretaceous, 66 to 100 million years old.

Kensal, cut in half from west to east

A section west to east, 24 miles through the town center
1,500 ft1,600 ft KENSAL1,540 ftHigh point of the line1,610 ftLow point1,430 ft ← WE →

Heights every 0.1 mile from the Copernicus GLO-90 surface model; vertical exaggeration about 64×. The colored band under the surface is the rock the state geologic map shows at the surface, not a picture of what lies beneath.

Rock at the surface along the line

Pierre Formation

Shale. Age: Late Cretaceous, 66 to 100 million years old. About 24 mi of the line.

From the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation (Horton and others, 2017), the states’ geologic maps joined at a common scale.

Heights from Copernicus GLO-90 (a surface model: it includes buildings and tree canopy); summits from USGS GNIS; rivers from USGS NHDPlus HR; rock from the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation.

MILE5
THE ALMANAC

Kensal’s year

1991–2020 normals · records since 1909 · Mc Henry 3 W, 20 mi north-northeast

Kensal has a warm-summer humid continental climate. Summer afternoons average 81° in July; winter nights fall to about −1° in January. A normal year brings about 60 inches of snow; with the rain, that comes to about 21 inches of water.

17°−1°22°3°34°16°52°30°66°42°76°54°81°58°80°56°71°46°54°33°36°19°22°6° JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC 1234 TODAY KENSAL 21.1 in rain and snowmelt
Normal high to low, by month Record high to low, by day Rain by month Freezing
July, average81° / 58°high / low, the warmest month
January, average17° / −1°high / low, the coldest month
Rain and melted snow21.1 inwettest months: July and June
Snow a year59.8 insnowiest: December
Hottest on record108°FJuly 28, 1917
Coldest on record−45°FJanuary 12, 1916
Wettest day on record5.70 inJuly 6, 1916
Snowiest day on record14.0 inDecember 6, 2016
90° days a year8very few reach 100°
Nights at or below 32°184and 99 days that stay below freezing
Climate typeWarm-summer humid continentalKöppen Dfb

AROUND THE RING

1Freeze seasonfrom the first fall freeze, about Sept. 28, to the last in spring, about May 12 (median dates)
2Highs below freezingNov. 23 to March 13; normal highs stay below 32°
3Lows below freezingOct. 17 to April 22; normal lows fall below 32°
4Wettest stretchMay through July: 9.9 of the year’s 21.1 inches
NOVEMBER 14 IN THE RECORD

On November 14 Kensal normally reaches 37° and falls to 20°. The record high is 71°, in 1939; the record low −16°, in 1940. The most rain on this date, 0.80 in, fell in 1944.

MONTH BY MONTH
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Normal high17°22°34°52°66°76°81°80°71°54°36°22°
Normal low−1°3°16°30°42°54°58°56°46°33°19°6°
Rain and melt, in0.550.480.831.202.733.553.642.552.111.810.880.81
Snow, inches11.49.48.24.30.90.00.00.00.02.58.814.3
Record high53° (1990)63° (1958)83° (1910)98° (1980)102° (1939)103° (1961)108° (1917)107° (1983)104° (1978)94° (1963)76° (1999)66° (1939)
Record low−45° (1916)−44° (1939)−36° (1948)−13° (1979)11° (1967)19° (1910)35° (1945)28° (1982)12° (1939)−5° (1991)−29° (1985)−42° (1916)

Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1909 at Mc Henry 3 W, 20 miles north-northeast. NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.

MILE7
ON THE NETWORK

Around Kensal on the Forecast Network

Neighboring plates

Jamestown ND · 27 MI 27 miles south Grand Forks ND · 88 MI 88 miles northeast Fargo ND · 95 MI 95 miles east Bismarck ND · 102 MI 102 miles west Minot ND · 135 MI 135 miles northwest
FORECASTCITY
Map of Kensal, North Dakota. Explore the plate
NORTH DAKOTA · STUTSMAN

Kensal

150 people, 1,540 ft above sea level in Stutsman County.

1,540 ftElevation
150People
1 sq miLand
Sunny 46°
SunnyDew point 30°
1

Today in Kensal

NEXT 15 HOURS
Now windy 41° 0%
7p mostly clear night 37° 0%
10p mostly clear night 36° 0%
1a mostly clear night 35° 0%
4a mostly clear night 35° 0%
7a mostly clear night 34° 0%
Rain
NEXT RAINWednesday · 40%
→
Sat0%
Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
32
41
A
Sun0%
Mostly sunny; warmer Mostly sunny; warmer
37
52
B
Mon0%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
37
57
C
Tue0%
Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
35
51
C
Wed40%
Chance of showers Chance of showers
33
45
C
Thu10%
Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
30
40
B
Fri40%
Chance of showers Chance of showers
30
40
C
Letters show how sure the forecast is: A, models agree; B, some spread; C, check back. Sample data.
THIS WEEK IN 1939 · NOV. 14, 1939

71°, the hottest this week of the year has been since 1909.

2

What Kensal stands on

Kensal’s center stands about 1,540 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 1,500 ft to 1,580 ft, a difference of 80 ft: gently rolling country.

Kensal, west to east Kensal1,540 ftHigh point1,610 ft ← WE → 24 miles through the town center; vertical exaggeration about 122×. Colors: rock at the surface.
Elevation, center1,540 ft
Within 3 miles1,500 to 1,580 ft
Lie of the landGently rolling (80 ft of relief)
Rock at the surfacePierre Formation
Its ageLate Cretaceous, 66 to 100 million years old
5

Kensal’s year

Kensal has a warm-summer humid continental climate. Summer afternoons average 81° in July; winter nights fall to about −1° in January. A normal year brings about 60 inches of snow; with the rain, that comes to about 21 inches of water.

JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC 1234 21.1 in
July, average81° / 58° · high / low, the warmest month
January, average17° / −1° · high / low, the coldest month
Rain and melted snow21.1 in · wettest months: July and June
Snow a year59.8 in · snowiest: December
Hottest on record108°F · July 28, 1917
Coldest on record−45°F · January 12, 1916
Wettest day on record5.70 in · July 6, 1916
Snowiest day on record14.0 in · December 6, 2016
90° days a year8 · very few reach 100°
Nights at or below 32°184 · and 99 days that stay below freezing
Climate typeWarm-summer humid continental · Köppen Dfb
1Freeze season · from the first fall freeze, about Sept. 28, to the last in spring, about May 12 (median dates)
2Highs below freezing · Nov. 23 to March 13; normal highs stay below 32°
3Lows below freezing · Oct. 17 to April 22; normal lows fall below 32°
4Wettest stretch · May through July: 9.9 of the year’s 21.1 inches
NOVEMBER 14 IN THE RECORD

On November 14 Kensal normally reaches 37° and falls to 20°. The record high is 71°, in 1939; the record low −16°, in 1940. The most rain on this date, 0.80 in, fell in 1944.

Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1909 at Mc Henry 3 W, 20 miles north-northeast. NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.