Dry eyes in Fargo, North Dakota

Fargo sits on the floor of an old glacial lake, so wind crosses the Red River Valley with almost nothing to slow it, and NOAA’s climate normals put January highs below 20°F. Cold outdoor air, gusts on open ground and months of furnace heat all speed up tear evaporation. Shielding your eyes outside, managing indoor air, and using a lubricating drop as its label directs are the practical answers.

Why the Red River Valley is so open

The valley isn’t a river valley in the usual sense. North Dakota’s state studies site explains that the region lay under glacial Lake Agassiz, and that once the water drained, the land left behind was nearly as flat as a floor. The state Department of Water Resources calls the old lakebed very flat and notes that the Red River runs north for nearly 400 river miles along the Minnesota line.

For your eyes, that geography matters more than it sounds. Hills, ridges and forest break up wind in most of the country. Around Fargo, a breeze that starts out west has miles of plowed fields and shelterbelts to cross, and in winter much of that ground is bare or snow-covered. Air moving across the surface of the eye carries moisture away faster than still air does, which is why a walk across a big parking lot in West Fargo can leave your eyes stinging in a way a walk of the same length in a sheltered town might not.

What NOAA’s numbers say about a Fargo winter

NOAA’s 1991–2020 climate normals for Fargo’s Hector International Airport give a clear picture of how long the cold season runs:

• January’s normal high is 18.2°F and its normal low is 0.2°F.
• An average year brings about 42 days when the low reaches zero or colder.
• About 93 days a year never get above freezing at all.
• Normal annual snowfall is 51.4 inches, and November already averages 6.8 inches.
• The station logs about 8,805 heating degree days a year, a NOAA measure of how far daily temperatures fall below 65°F and so of how hard furnaces work.

That heating figure is the one to notice. Cold air holds very little water vapor, and when your furnace warms it to 68 or 70 degrees, its relative humidity drops sharply. Fargo homes run that heat from fall into spring, so the dry indoor stretch lasts far longer than the snow cover in many other cities.

Daily life that dries the eyes here

• Scraping the windshield at 7 a.m. with your face turned into a north wind.
• Long drives on straight, open roads with the defroster aimed at the glass and spilling onto your face.
• Harvest season in September and October, when field work kicks up dust across the valley.
• Indoor hockey rinks and big-box stores where heated, recirculated air blows from overhead units.
• Evenings of screen time once it’s dark by late afternoon, which tends to cut down how often you blink.

Habits that help in a prairie winter

• Wear wraparound sunglasses or ski goggles on windy days, especially when sun reflects off snow-covered fields.
• Point car vents at your chest and feet, not your eyes, and use recirculate sparingly so the cabin isn’t baking dry.
• Run a humidifier in the bedroom and clean it as the maker instructs.
• Take short breaks from screens and blink fully; screens and your tear film explains why.
• Keep a bottle at work and one at home so you aren’t carrying it through a cold parking lot twice a day.

Where Quell fits for Fargo households

Quell’s Uses read: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. It is designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss, and that oil layer is the part of your tears that slows evaporation when air is cold, dry and moving. The label’s directions are simple: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye.

The active ingredients are Glycerol (1.0%), Polysorbate 80 (1.0%) and Light Mineral Oil (0.5%). You can read the whole panel on the Drug Facts page before you order.

Keeping a bottle usable through a North Dakota January

The label says Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). A glove box in Fargo can sit well below the bottom of that range for weeks on end, so the car isn’t a place to keep drops from November to March. A coat pocket close to your body is fine for the trip from the house to the office. If a bottle has gotten very cold, let it return to room temperature and check it. Under “Do not use,” the label lists: If this product changes color.

Ordering from Fargo

Quell ships to North Dakota addresses from Brentwood, Tennessee, at $10.00 per order, with free shipping once you order 3 bottles. There’s no subscription; you’ll get one reminder email when you might be running low. The Fargo page and the North Dakota page cover ordering to the area.

When dryness isn’t just the weather

Winter air explains a lot of eye discomfort on the northern plains, but not all of it. Stop use and ask a doctor if you feel eye pain or changes in your vision, if irritation or redness continues, or if the condition worsens or persists for 72 hours. A local optometrist or ophthalmologist can look at what’s going on.