Blizzard — Sully, South Dakota

2022-12-21 to 2022-12-23 · Sully, South Dakota

Wider weather episode

An unusually potent blast of cold air for December followed in behind a reinforcing Arctic front Tuesday night, December 20th, into Wednesday, December 21st, along with a trace to as much as 2 to 4 inches of new snowfall on top of the pre-existing loose snow pack (highest amounts include 4 inches 2 miles NW of Big Stone City, 3.5 inches 6 miles SW of Gary, 3.3 inches 2 miles SW of McLaughlin). Wind gusts of 35 to 55 mph behind this front impacted the region from December 21st through December 23rd, resulting in an extended period of life-threatening wind chills in the -35 to -60 degree F range and ground blizzard conditions (highest gusts include 60 mph at Hayes, 58 mph 10 miles south of Bullhead, 54 mph at Vivian, and 53 mph at Agar and Pierre all on the 22nd).

The extreme cold made the threat to stranded motorists even more dangerous, as numerous roads became impassable. Nearly the entire state was virtually shut down, for the second time this December, as roads were either deemed No Travel Advised or closed by the South Dakota Department of Transportation. I29 closed from 6pm CST on December 22nd from Sioux Falls to the ND state line until 9am on December 23rd from Sioux Falls to Watertown and until noon from Watertown to the ND state line, and I90 closed from Rapid City to Chamberlain from 6pm MST on December 21st until 2:30pm on December 23rd from Rapid City to Murdo and until 4pm from Murdo to Mitchell. Additional impacts included numerous vehicle accidents and rescues, as well as numerous school closures. Governor Noem declared a Winter Storm Emergency on December 22nd, which activated the SD National Guard and allowed assistance from the state to county governments as needed. Furthermore, 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 1073734. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.