Heavy Snow — Faulk, South Dakota

2023-04-04 to 2023-04-05 · Faulk, South Dakota

Event narrative

A storm total 16 inches of snow was observed 8 miles south-southwest of Seneca.

Wider weather episode

Just 4 days after a major winter storm at the end of March, a strong low pressure system developed across the western Great Plains and strengthened as it tracked northeast into Iowa on the afternoon of April 4th and into northeastern Minnesota by noon on April 5th. This system produced heavy snow from late in the evening on April 3rd through early in the morning on April 5th across central and northeastern South Dakota, along with northeast winds of 15-30mph. The initial snow over east central South Dakota transitioned to a freezing rain or wintry mix for a period of time during the late afternoon and evening hours before switching back to snow. Visibilities were frequently reduced to between a mile and a quarter mile in heavy snow, with localized blizzard conditions at times. Winds shifted to the west-northwest on April 5th and gusted to between 30 and 45 mph, which led to continued significantly reduced visibilities at times through the day despite the lack of new falling snow. Ditches were full of snow from this and previous snowfall events, which allowed for significant drifts to develop on roadways. Some of the highest snowfall totals included 18 inches 7 miles east of Hayes, 16 inches 8 miles south-southwest of Seneca, 15.6 inches a mile west of Roscoe, 15 inches 9 miles east of Grey Goose, 4 miles northwest of Onida and 11 miles northeast of Pierre, and 14 inches in Bowdle, 5 miles northwest of Mission Ridge and 3 miles northwest of Westport.

Many US and state highways were either impassable, closed or under no travel advised statements from the South Dakota Department of Transportation. Interstate 29 closed from Watertown to the North Dakota boarder from 2pm April 4th through 7am April 6th. Business and school closures were widespread as a result. Governor Kristi Noem ordered the closure of state government executive branch offices from April 4th through 5th for numerous counties. Additionally, there were several reports of power outages, and ranchers were severely impacted due to the storm's overlap with the calving season. Finally, the roof of a downtown Aberdeen building, Dacotah Bank, began to collapse on the evening of April 6th due to the weight of the heavy snow. Following this storm, many locations had observed a top-10 winter season for total snowfall. April snow depth records were shattered at Aberdeen and Sisseton as well. All the snow and much below average temperatures to start April set the stage for significant spring flooding.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1092707. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.