Winter Storm — Day, South Dakota

2025-04-01 to 2025-04-03 · Day, South Dakota

Event narrative

Day county sheriff posted a photo of a vehicle in an open body of water after it slid off the roadway, and a photo of a jackknifed semi in the ditch along highway 12 during the evening of April 1st. The CoCoRaHS observer 2 miles southeast of Roslyn would report 4.2 inches on the morning of April 2nd and an additional 6.5 inches on the morning of April 3rd. We also received a public comment on Facebook stating they had received 12 inches of snow in Waubay.

Wider weather episode

A system to the south looped up into Minnesota, generating a band of heavy snow and strong winds across mainly northeast South Dakota, with a lull and partial melting before wrap around precipitation and a re-freeze resulted in additional ice and snowfall. Heavy snow and ice created slick roads and at times near-blizzard conditions. This led to a vehicle collision and fatality near the town of Milbank, while another fatality occurred on icy roads in Hand County. In Day County, icy roads caused a driver to slide into a recently opened pond. Numerous additional slide-ins and vehicle accidents were documented during this event. Snowfall amounts topped out at 12 inches in Waubay and Summit, 11 inches in Milbank and 10 inches at the National Weather Service in Aberdeen.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1238985. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.