Blizzard — Day, South Dakota

2025-12-18 · Day, South Dakota

Event narrative

No Travel Advised was issued for Day county thanks to a combination of winds around 60 mph and snow showers leading to localized blizzard conditions.

Wider weather episode

A strong low-pressure system and a blast of arctic air produced high winds and pockets of localized blizzard conditions across the region. The highest wind gust of 83 mph was recorded by the South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) mesonet station near Ridgeview, SD and 81 mph winds were recorded by the SDDOT mesonet station 9 miles north northwest of Vivian, SD. 26 additional weather stations would record a peak wind gust in excess of 70 mph. High winds and light snow resulted in pockets of intermittent blizzard conditions.

High winds were responsible for blowing in the top of a grain bin in Murdo, toppling a small steel building under construction in Timber Lake, and causing a semi to jackknife near the town of Frederick in Brown County. Another semi closed portions of Highway 28 in Hamlin county after it was blown into the ditch. Roberts, Marshall and Day counties were placed under a No Travel Advised for the duration of the system.

Several power outages were also noted, totaling of 1647 residents, including 355 residents in Marshall and 322 residents in McPherson counties. Day, Spink, Lyman and Stanley all suffered power infrastructure damage due to these high winds.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1303009. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.