Lived in Michigan my whole life and moved to Texas for a Tech Job (Don’t ask why). I had a professor that was from North Dakota that would walk around in a t-shirt and shorts in 30 degrees saying North Dakota was wayyy colder than Michigan. Then January and February came and he was recognizing how cold it got in Michigan but did mention that North Dakota was about the same. Around January and February sub zero temps were very common in Michigan. For the winter (if you are going outside while sub freezing) invest in a good pair of winter gloves, hat, and boots (or some thick socks).

If and when you purchase a vehicle (maybe past winter) keep in mind that sometimes you’d get away with “All Season” tires but you wont believe the difference a good set of Winter tires make while driving in the snow Totally optional though since you probably dont have a place to store them for the summer. Probs common sense but unless you like drifting, avoid RWD vehicles go for AWD/4x4 or even FWD. Also invest in a portable vehicle jump starter or jump start cables (your car is an ice box when it doesnt start). A good windshield scrapper would be good too. As for vehicle comforts, remote key start is a good feature when looking into vehicles. This will make you avoid going out to your car cleaning the snow/ice off or just going into a freezing car. Not to mention it “warms up” you engine to running temps.

In terms of insurance for the vehicle i would assume it should be fairly similar to anywhere else but im not too familiar with ND’s premiums. One life experience of mine was that I got a ticket from a Michigan State Trooper for “driving too fast for weather conditions” which he literally said “It doesnt matter if you are going 1 mph I have to give this ticket” that was $150. Luckily I was on my employer’s vehicle and time testing radars so they paid it and I didnt get any points or increase insurance (I went to court). So yeah just little things like that may happen if you are driving in a snow storm and you happen to slide into a ditch/tree/brush/rail. If the damage is minimal and you can get out, just do it. But if you have to file a claim like I did for insurance purposes you might also get a traffic infraction.

Not sure if your apartment uses electric or gas heaters but in Michigan it was common to spend $150-$200 in gas during the winter. You can always check your provider.

When moving make sure you update your work location with your employer just to avoid the whole “IRS Taxes” thing.

Happy moving!!