Temperatures in the region dipped below freezing early Monday.

According to the National Weather Service's Grand Forks office, temperatures dropped to 30 degrees in the early morning hours Monday at Grand Forks International Airport.

On Oct. 15, the temperature at the airport dropped below 28 degrees, the measure for a hard - or killing - freeze, for the first time in 180 days. The long period without a seriously damaging frost has led to a longer growing season than normal, according to George Flaskerud, a crops marketing economist with the North Dakota State University Extension office in Fargo.

The recent colder temperatures are expected to have little impact on crop harvest in the region.

“The crops are far enough along that frost isn't going to hurt a thing,” said Mike Morgan at the Thompson (N.D.) Farmers Co-op Elevator. “It doesn't matter. The crops are done.”

Highs in the 60s

Temperatures are not expected to drop below freezing in Grand Forks until Friday night with highs in the 60s expected Wednesday afternoon, according to Pete Speicher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Grand Forks.

“The rain is the bigger impact holding up harvest right now,” said Lionel Olson in the North Dakota State University Extension's Grand Forks office.

No precipitation is expected the rest of the week, with a slight chance of rain Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service.

That should be good news for farmers. Heavy rain in the past week slowed harvest in North Dakota and Minnesota, specifically for sugar beets and potatoes.

Sugar beets were 89 percent harvested in North Dakota as of Sunday, down from a five-year average of 95 percent at this time of year, according to weekly crop weather estimates released Monday by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. In Minnesota, 80 percent of the sugar beet crop had been harvested, down from a five-year average of 92 percent.

Potatoes were 96 percent dug in North Dakota, down a percentage point from the five-year average. In Minnesota, the potato crop was 94 percent harvested, also a percentage point below the five-year average.