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

Portal

120 people, 1,960 ft above sea level in Burke County.

1,960 ftElevation, city center
120People, 2024 estimate
1 sq miLand area
Sunny 45°
Sunny now Dew point 36° · S 18 mph · high 40°
City of Portal River Interstate 2 miles
Explore the plate Order a print

The Portal 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 Portal

NWS forecast and National Blend of Models · updated 5:00 PM CST
RIGHT NOW Lima(Bowbells) TG (K1LN) · 4:55 PM
Sunny
45° Sunny Feels like 38° · high of 40° near 5 PM
WindS 18 mphno gusts
Humidity69%rising to 100% by morning
Pressure29.85 in →steady
Visibility10 mihaze-free
CloudsClear
UV index—no forecast
Dew point 36° · Dryabout the same for three days
DryComfortableStickyMuggyOppressive
NEXT RAIN
Rain
Wednesday50% chance · showers
LIKELY AMOUNT—amounts come within 3 days
LAST RAINNov. 110.13 in · 3 dry days
ALERTS & OUTLOOKS
No watches or warnings for Burke County
NWS Bismarck and the Storm Prediction Center · checked 5:46 PM
SUN & MOON
↑ 7:58 AM5:11 PM ↓
9 h 13 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
5p
8p
11p
2a
5a
8a
11a
2p
5p
8p
11p
2a
5a
8a
11a
2p
5p
8p
11p
2a
5a
8a
11a
2p
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
mostly sunny
mostly sunny
mostly sunny
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly clear night
partly cloudy day
partly cloudy day
partly cloudy day
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy day
mostly cloudy day
mostly cloudy day
TEMPERATURE °F
40°
34°
53°
37°
56°
36°
CHANCE OF RAIN
50%
WIND, MPH
13
13
12
10
10
9
9
8
6
8
9
10
9
9
9
6
3
3
3
2
3
3
7
8
HOW IT FEELS · DEW POINT
Dry: dew points 33 to 41°

The next seven days, and how sure we are

Forecast, with the range 8 in 10 ensemble members agree on Normal, about 35° / 15°
SAT Nov. 14 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
40° 32°
0% rain — SSE 13 A
SUN Nov. 15 Mostly sunny; warmer Mostly sunny; warmer
54° 36°
0% rain — S 9 B
MON Nov. 16 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
57° 35°
0% rain — WSW 8 B
TUE Nov. 17 Mostly cloudy; cooler Mostly cloudy; cooler
48° 31°
0% rain — ENE 6 B
WED Nov. 18 Chance of showers; cooler Chance of showers; cooler
38° 26°
50% rain up to 0.3″ NW 9 C
THU Nov. 19 Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
36° 25°
20% rain — E 5 C
FRI Nov. 20 Chance of showers Chance of showers
35° 23°
30% rain up to 0.1″ NE 8 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 Portal about 5,000 feet above the ground was over the Canadian Prairies three days ago, and over the northern Rockies a day ago, about 880 miles back along its path. The nine paths traced from around the city fan out, so treat that as a best guess. It rose from near the ground on the way. Near the ground the air came from British Columbia; at 10,000 feet, from the Pacific north of Hawaii. It has stayed over land, which is why it feels dry. Traced back 72 hours through NOAA’s hourly RAP analyses and the GFS beyond them, nine paths at each of three heights.

MILE2
THE GROUND

What Portal stands on

Portal’s center stands about 1,960 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 1,890 ft to 1,970 ft, a difference of 80 ft: gently rolling country.

Under the town center the state geologic map shows Bullion Creek Formation (claystone, siltstone), from the Paleocene, 56 to 66 million years old.

The section below crosses 2 rock units mapped at the surface.

Portal, cut in half from south to north

A section south to north, 24 miles through the town center
1,700 ft1,800 ft1,900 ft PORTAL1,960 ftHigh point of the line1,990 ftLow point1,710 ft ← SN →

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

Bullion Creek Formation

Claystone, siltstone. Age: Paleocene, 56 to 66 million years old. About 11 mi of the line.

Cannonball Formation

Shale, sandstone. Age: Paleocene, 56 to 66 million years old. About 0.9 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.

MILE7
ON THE NETWORK

Around Portal on the Forecast Network

Neighboring plates

Minot ND · 78 MI 78 miles southeast Bismarck ND · 172 MI 172 miles southeast
FORECASTCITY
Map of Portal, North Dakota. Explore the plate
NORTH DAKOTA · BURKE

Portal

120 people, 1,960 ft above sea level in Burke County.

1,960 ftElevation
120People
1 sq miLand
Sunny 45°
SunnyDew point 36°
1

Today in Portal

NEXT 15 HOURS
Now partly cloudy night 40° 0%
8p partly cloudy night 38° 0%
11p mostly clear night 36° 0%
2a clear night 34° 0%
5a mostly clear night 34° 0%
8a mostly sunny 34° 0%
Rain
NEXT RAINWednesday · 50%
→
Sat0%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
32
40
A
Sun0%
Mostly sunny; warmer Mostly sunny; warmer
36
54
B
Mon0%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
35
57
B
Tue0%
Mostly cloudy; cooler Mostly cloudy; cooler
31
48
B
Wed50%
Chance of showers; cooler Chance of showers; cooler
26
38
C
Thu20%
Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
25
36
C
Fri30%
Chance of showers Chance of showers
23
35
C
Letters show how sure the forecast is: A, models agree; B, some spread; C, check back. Sample data.
2

What Portal stands on

Portal’s center stands about 1,960 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 1,890 ft to 1,970 ft, a difference of 80 ft: gently rolling country.

Portal, south to north Portal1,960 ftHigh point1,990 ft ← SN → 24 miles through the town center; vertical exaggeration about 122×. Colors: rock at the surface.
Elevation, center1,960 ft
Within 3 miles1,890 to 1,970 ft
Lie of the landGently rolling (80 ft of relief)
Rock at the surfaceBullion Creek Formation
Its agePaleocene, 56 to 66 million years old