Flat and open terrain surrounds Fargo, which is situated on the eastern boundary of North Dakota opposite Moorhead, Minnesota, in the Red River Valley of the North. The Red River, part of the Hudson Bay drainage area, flows north between the two cities.
Precipitation is generally Fargo's most significant climatic feature. The Red River Valley lies in an area where lighter amounts of precipitation fall to the west and heavier amounts to the east. Seventy-five percent of the precipitation, accompanied by electrical storms and heavy rainfall in a short period of time, occurs during the growing season, April to September.
Summers are comfortable, with low humidity, warm days, and cool nights. Winters are cold and dry, the temperatures remaining at zero or below approximately half of the time; snowfall is generally light. The legendary Dakota blizzards result from drifting of even minimal snowfall, caused by strong winds that blow unimpeded across the flat terrain.
Area: 38 square miles (2000)
Elevation: 900 feet above sea level
Average Temperatures: January, 6° F; July, 71° F; annual average, 41° F
Average Annual Precipitation: 19.6 inches of rain; 35 inches of snow