High Wind — Clay, South Dakota

2025-12-18 · Clay, South Dakota

Event narrative

Northwest winds were sustained between 40 and 44 mph at times, with gusts as high as 64 mph at Vermillion and 60 mph at a South Dakota Mesonet site 7 miles west-southwest of Beresford.

Wider weather episode

Intensifying low pressure moved across North Dakota and northern Minnesota early on December 18th. A very strong cold front plowed southward behind the system and was accompanied by a minimal amount of snowfall over several hours during the later morning and afternoon hours. While most snowfall was limited to a half inch to inch at most, increasing collocation of the snow and strong wind east of Interstate 29 resulted in areas of blizzard or near blizzard conditions across parts of southwest Minnesota and northwest Iowa. Several injury accidents were reported across northwest Iowa with the Department of Transportation advising no travel for several hours in the afternoon. The high winds also produced some spotty power outages.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1307893. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.