Power Outage in Pierre, SD

Seventy mph winds downed a few trees and caused some other structural damage in Pierre. Power was also out in parts of Pierre.

Seventy mph winds or higher brought down many tree branches along with some trees in Pierre. There was also some power outages in Pierre along with some buildings receiving damage.

A large upper-level low pressure area moved across the Central Plains and produced heavy snow across central South Dakota from the afternoon of the 14th through the morning of the 15th. The heaviest snowfall amounts included 8 inches near Kennebec, Okaton, Pierre and Reliance, and 12 inches at the Chantler Creek Recreation Area. Vehicle accidents resulted from the deteriorated road conditions. Additionally, snow accretion on power lines combined with gusty winds to knock out power to hundreds of customers. Outages lasted into the 16th in some cases.

A strong surface low pressure area tracked from Wyoming across South Dakota on Friday, January 17th and Saturday, January 18th. This low pressure area was followed by a powerful Arctic cold front which brought high winds from 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 50 to over 60 mph to parts of central and north central South Dakota. Some light snow along with freezing rain/drizzle occurred with this system across the region but, the main issue was the high winds. Very cold air moved in with the northwest winds as well. There were impacts to roads and driving conditions with some spotty icy conditions along with lowered visibility in blowing snow at times. The highest wind gust was 62 mph near Reliance.

An intense clipper system followed by a powerful arctic front brought a trace to 3 inches of snow along with high winds to central and north central South Dakota. Northwest winds gusting to 60 to over 70 mph occurred during the late evening of the 27th and ended in the early morning hours of the 28th. These high winds brought the visibility down to less than a quarter mile at times in blowing snow mainly east of the Missouri River. Some of the highest wind gusts include, 61 mph at Lantry; 63 mph at Mobridge; 66 mph 10 miles south of Bullhead; 70 mph at Blunt; 71 mph at Pierre; and 72 mph 12 miles north of Vivian.

A second long track severe thunderstorm moved out of western South Dakota and across central South Dakota through the evening hours. This storm produced large hail up to 2 inches along with winds to nearly 90 mph as it moved across the region. A nearly continuous path of destruction occurred from northwest Stanley county east through central Sully county and across northern Hyde county. The path was nearly 90 miles across this area with a path width varying from 2 to 5 miles. Tens of thousands of acres of crops and pastureland were destroyed by this storm with some farmers losing up to 15,000 acres alone.||The hail and wind storm also wreaked havoc on vehicles, buildings, and windows. Campers were toppled, grain bins and building siding were damaged with some roofs being blown off some structures. Also, some wildlife, including birds and deer, were killed from the storm. Thirty-two power poles were downed west of Onida along with three transmission poles broken or leaning, leaving many without electricity through the night. Power lines and poles on the roads halted travel for some areas. This storm crossed some of the same areas in Sully county that were hit by destructive hail on June 27th. This hail and wind storm had began in Wyoming and traveled over 420 miles before it ended in eastern South Dakota.

A strong upper level low pressure trough wrapped in a mixed bag of precipitation across central South Dakota during the morning and afternoon hours. The warmer air aloft riding over the near freezing to subfreezing temperatures at the surface brought widespread rain, freezing rain, and sleet resulting in significant ice accumulations. Due to the near to just below freezing temperatures, most of the ice accumulations occurred on trees, power lines, and structures with the roads surfaces mainly becoming slushy. There were a few reports of power outages. ||Total precipitation amounts ranged from a few tenths of an inch to nearly an inch and a quarter across the region. Of this precipitation, ice accumulations of a quarter to a half inch along with up to three tenths of an inch of sleet occurred along with one location receiving 10 inches of snow. The precipitation changed over to all snow later in the afternoon as the colder air took over the region with all locations receiving from 1 to 4 inches of snowfall before it all ended.

An early morning storm system impacted parts of central and northeast South Dakota. While large hail fell in the Pierre area, parts of Hamlin and Deuel counties were the hardest hit experiencing winds over 80 mph along with large hail. Northwest of Castlewood, multiple power poles were downed blocking the intersection of Highways 81 and 22. In the city of Castlewood, winds caused structural and extensive tree damage, with wind-driven hail breaking windows and punching holes in siding. The assisted living center was evacuated due to damage on the north end of the building. Two of the residents at the center received minor injuries from broken glass. No travel was advised in the city due to debris blocking roadways. Further southeast, hail up to the size of golf balls damaged homes in the town of Astoria. Significant crop damage was also noted along the path of this storm.

Two rounds of severe weather developed across central South Dakota during the afternoon and late evening hours. The first round of thunderstorms developed during the early afternoon hours of June 19th and quickly produced hail up to two inches in diameter. The thunderstorms proceeded to back build and train over the same areas for the next five hours finally exiting Hand county in the late afternoon. As a result, 2 to 6 inches of rain had fallen causing flash flooding in northern Hyde and Hand counties. Flooded areas and creeks remained for the next few days. ||The second round of thunderstorms developed late in the evening in western South Dakota transitioning into a widespread wind event as they moved quickly southeast into central South Dakota. During the event, winds from 60 to over 100 mph were measured with Jones, Lyman, and Buffalo counties being the hardest hit. The squall line entered Jones county around midnight and by 1230 am CDT, several semi trucks had been blown over, two machine sheds were destroyed, power poles and lines were snapped, numerous billboards and road signs were damaged, trailers were flipped over, a grain elevator bin's roof was blown off and side caved in, and many trees were downed. Much of the damage occurred in Okaton, Murdo, and Draper and along Interstate-90.||As the storms moved through Lyman County, they damaged several structures, downed power lines and poles, flipped a pickup truck, along with causing expansive tree damage. In Buffalo county, the storms immediately impacted Fort Thompson, where campers were flipped, structures were damaged, and many trees were downed. Also, in Fort Thompson was the destruction of a trailer house which led to a fatality. The storm then impacted the rest of Buffalo county resulting in the destruction of several grain bins, a hay shed, along with taking the roof off of a hangar near Gann Valley before continuing east of the area.

A strong area of low pressure moved out of the Rockies and into the Northern Plains producing snow and widespread blizzard conditions across central and north central South Dakota. Winds gusting to over 60 mph along with several inches of snow caused hazardous travel conditions. Interstate 90 was closed for a time across much of Jones and part of Lyman County. Power was also out in parts of Pierre and Mobridge for a short period of time. Some snowfall amounts included; 2 inches at Pierre; 5 inches in Hayes and Timber Lake; 6 inches in Murdo, McLaughlin, and 6 miles southeast of McInstosh; 7 inches 14 miles northeast of Isabel; 8 inches in Eagle Butte; and 12 inches 8 miles southwest of Keldron.

On the evening of 26 June 2008, a compact upper level low pressure system tracking through the Northern Plains interacted with a very moist and unstable airmass over western and central South Dakota resulting in a widespread severe weather outbreak. Three confirmed tornadoes occurred briefly in western Dewey County. Little or no damage was reported and all three tornadoes were rated EF-0. In addition to the tornadoes, multiple reports of large hail were received over Corson and Dewey Counties, including some to the size of baseballs near the communities of McLaughlin and Isabel. The large hail broke out many home and vehicle windows and damaged many roofs in Dewey, Corson, and Sully Counties.||Significant wind damage occurred over sections of Sully County. There were multiple reports of wind gusts in excess of 70 mph, with the most concentrated swath of damaging winds extending from near Sutton Bay, eastward to the city of Onida, then southeast to the community of Harrold. ||The storm survey began near Sutton Bay on Lake Oahe, where a wind gust of 92 mph was recorded. The most significant property damage was found further east near the community of Agar where multiple grain bins were either damaged or destroyed. Nine miles west of Agar, a barn was destroyed and a large pine tree was snapped in half. Winds in this area were estimated to range from 80 to 100 mph. Near the intersection of Highways 1804 and 175th Street, several Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) electrical transmission towers were completely collapsed. This is consistent with wind speeds ranging from 130-140 mph. In the city of Onida a bank roof was damaged and the city was without power until the next day. Four miles north of Onida, a feed wagon was tossed nearly 40 feet. In Harrold, several railroad cars were tipped over.||Also of great significance during the event was the peak wind speed of 124 mph recorded at the Onida airport. This wind speed is the strongest wind gust ever measured in the Aberdeen County Warning Area (CWA) and the 4th strongest wind speed ever reported in South Dakota.

Snow began across most of central and north central South Dakota in the late afternoon and early evening hours of the 27th with significant snowfall accumulations occurring by the time the snow ended later in the day on the 28th. Snowfall accumulations ranged from as little as 2 inches to as much as 20 inches. Strong northwest winds of 30 to 50 mph with gusts to 70 mph caused widespread blizzard conditions from the early morning until the late afternoon hours of the 28th. Visibilities were reduced to zero many times across the area with snowdrifts of 5 to 10 feet high in some places. Freezing rain occurred before the snow across the far eastern portions of Mcpherson and Edmunds county resulting in some power outages. Some power lines were also brought down in the Pierre and Fort Pierre area due to snow accumulation and high winds. Many roads along with Interstate-90 were closed due to the treacherous travel conditions. Several accidents occurred during the storm along with many motorists being stranded. Several people had to be rescued. Schools, businesses, government offices, and many other organizations were closed. FEMA, state officials, along with the governor surveyed the storm damage. Some of the significant snowfall amounts included, 7 inches at Eureka, 8 inches at Onaka, 10 inches at Onida and Fort Thompson, 11 inches near Presho, 16 inches at Highmore, and 21 inches at Kennebec.

High winds of 35 to 50 mph gusting to around 70 mph blew across central and north central South Dakota from the late morning to the late afternoon hours. As a result, several trees and many tree branches were downed, many structures, roofs, billboards, and road signs were damaged, a few mobile homes were overturned, and some power outages occurred. Not only did the high winds make driving difficult but, at some locations, they stirred up dirt causing visibilities to drop to near zero at times. Some detours and traffic collisions resulted due to the low visibility in blowing dirt. Airborne objects broke some windows across the area. One house had all of the windows on the front porch blown out. Also, a few semi tractor-trailers were tipped over by the high winds. Wind gusts included, 60 mph at Pierre, 63 mph at Kennebec, 64 mph at Mobridge, 65 mph at Pollock, and 71 mph at McLaughlin. The high winds and extremely dry conditions combined with downed and arcing electrical lines, out of control burns, and smoldering embers from previous fires resulted in several grassfires across central and north central South Dakota. Several thousand acres of grassland, hundreds of haybales and haystacks, along with some trees and fences were burned. Also, the smoke from some of these fires created low visibilities and difficult driving conditions on some roads.