Blizzard — Sully, South Dakota

2022-12-15 to 2022-12-16 · Sully, South Dakota

Wider weather episode

A strong low pressure system produced snow and heavy snow prior to the onset of strong northwesterly winds and periods of additional snow, which resulted in blizzard or ground blizzard conditions across much of central and northeastern South Dakota for extended periods of time from the morning of December 14th through the afternoon of December 16th. Heavy snow of at least 6 inches in 12 hours was recorded from December 15th into the 16th in conjunction with the blizzard conditions across Marshall, Day, Codington, Grant and Roberts Counties. Winds gusted generally between 45 and 60 mph, with the highest recorded gusts including 63 mph at Pierre, 61 mph 10 miles SW of the Chantler Creek Rec Area, 59 mph 3 miles N of Gann Valley, and 58 mph 3 miles SE of Reliance.

The South Dakota Department of Transportation placed nearly the entire state under No Travel Advised or had road closures by Thursday, as numerous roads had become impassable. I90 closed from Chamberlain to Rapid City from 10am CST on Tue Dec 13th through mid-day Sat Dec 17th (from Kadoka to Chamberlain), and I29 closed from Watertown to the ND border from 7pm Wed Dec 14th through 9am Sat Dec 17th. Several dozens of semi drivers were stranded for consecutive days and nights at the Coffee Cup Fuel Stop in Vivian, and numerous other vehicle accidents and rescues occurred as well. Additionally, power outages were reported across the area, and school was cancelled at numerous locations for multiple consecutive days.

The blizzard was just one component of a highly impactful, major winter storm. This storm was severe, widespread and prolonged in nature, and produced freezing rain, heavy snow and/or blizzard conditions from December 12th through 16th across the region. A Major Disaster Declaration was declared on February 27th by Governor Noem for several counties across central and northeastern South Dakota for winter weather from December 12-25th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1073616. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.