Winter Weather — Brookings, South Dakota

2011-01-17 to 2011-01-18 · Brookings, South Dakota

Event narrative

Northwest winds gusting above 35 mph caused blowing and drifting of existing snow cover. Visibilities dropped below a half mile at times, and drifting snow blocked some roads. Wind chills lowered to near 20 below zero during the night. A 65 year old woman died of exposure after she left her vehicle which had become stuck in drifts on a township road near Elkton.

Wider weather episode

Northwest winds caused blowing and drifting snow over an area which extended from Brookings County South Dakota into southwest Minnesota. Cold temperatures and wind chills approaching 20 degrees below zero developed during the event and continued through the night as the winds and blowing snow slowly decreased. There was a fatality from exposure in Brookings County during the event.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 280627. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.