Power Outage in Harrold, SD

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.

March 14, 2021

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.

January 17, 2020

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.

January 27, 2019

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.

June 29, 2018

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.

March 16, 2018