Winter Weather — Miner, South Dakota

2023-12-25 to 2023-12-26 · Miner, South Dakota

Event narrative

A period of sleet, freezing rain, and snow developed early on Christmas Day and lingered into early afternoon before changing over to light drizzle and light freezing drizzle late afternoon and into Christmas night. Snow and sleet accumulated to 1.0 inch at Howard, with less than a tenth of an inch ice accumulation. Visibility dropped briefly to around one mile as winds gusted as high as 37 mph at the South Dakota Road Weather Information System site near Howard.

Wider weather episode

A complex storm impacted the Northern Plains in the days leading up to and through the Christmas holiday with widespread precipitation, wind, and hazardous conditions. The storm began as rain during the afternoon and evening of December 23, briefly pausing before a second round of rainfall surged northward early on December 24, with temperatures cold enough for snowfall from the James River westward.

Cooler temperatures near the surface by early Christmas Day caused a widespread transition to freezing rain with light ice accumulation for areas east of the James River. Farther west, very strong winds gusted to 40 to 55 mph on Christmas Day with heavy snow developing west of the James River Valley, which totaled from 5 to 15 inches. Snow rates diminished, as well as the wind by later Christmas Day.

Travel was not recommended in areas west of the James River, and Interstate 90 was closed west of Mitchell from later afternoon on Christmas Day until mid-morning on December 26. Power outages were sporadic and impacted several hundred customers generally along the I-29 corridor due to ice accumulation and strong wind on Christmas morning.

Several long-term NWS Cooperative Observer locations in southeast South Dakota recorded the highest 3-day precipitation total on record for December including:

White Lake 2.39

Chamberlain 5S 2.31

Academy 2NE 2.15

De Smet 1.95

Alexandria 1.89

Flandreau 1.80

Colton 1.79

Sioux Falls 1.76

Menno 1.71

Brookings 1.68

Howard 1.61.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1153920. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.