Winter Storm — Roberts, South Dakota

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

Event narrative

Roberts county sheriff advised no travel at noon on April 1st, while the South Dakota Highway Patrol posted photos that afternoon and evening of passenger vehicles and semi trucks in the ditch along Interstate 29 along with their warnings to avoid travel in the area. The COOP observer 1 mile west of Summit would record a 2 day total of 12 inches of snow.

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 1240648. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.