Blizzard in South Dakota, April 4 to 6, 1997

Before the icestorm and blizzard, an intense area of low pressure brought widespread rain to central and north central South Dakota the evening of the 4th. The rain spread across northeast South Dakota through the morning hours of the 5th. The 1 to 3 inches of rainfall only worsened the flood situation. As the low pressure intensified and a powerful cold front swept southeast, the rain changed to freezing rain, sleet, and then snow with 4 to 12 inches of snowfall. North winds increased to 40 to 60 mph with gusts to 70 mph causing widespread blizzard conditions. Temperatures dropped into the teens and 20s and wind chills fell to 15 to 30 below. Snowdrifts were from 3 to 10 feet across the area. Travel became nearly impossible as roads were either flooded, drifted, or iced over. Many roads were closed including, parts of Interstates 29 and 90. Hours and hours of freezing rain and the ice buildup brought down many power lines and poles resulting in widespread power outages in a 50 mile wide band across northern South Dakota. The power was knocked out for many communities from late on the 5th until Monday the 7th, leaving many people struggling to keep warm. Most people had power restored by late on the 8th except for the town of Hillsview, where they were without power for a week. Temperatures dropped to 20 degrees inside some homes. Some people used everything from candles to grilling to keep warm, while many went to shelters. Nearly thirty communities, thousands of people, across northern South Dakota from Keldron to Summit experienced power outages along with the surrounding rural areas. For one electric cooperative, at 3 am on the 6th, not one consumer in the service area in Dewey and Corson county had power. This was the first time this occurred in 30 years. Also, this icestorm and blizzard had caused the most damage to lines and poles in 30 years. Many trees and branches were also brought down by the storm. The area's calf crop was devastated by the storm with total livestock losses nearing 100,000. With several months of severe winter weather and flooding, several dairy and cattle producers were forced out of business. Many schools were called off across the area on Monday and some on Tuesday. President Clinton declared the area a major disaster on April 7th. Some snowfall amounts included, 4 inches at Aberdeen, Redfield, Clear Lake, and Murdo, 5 inches at Britton and Bryant, 6 inches at Iona and Gettysburg, 7 inches at Watertown, Gann Valley and Onida, 8 inches at Clark, Wilmot, Pollock, Mobridge, and Pierre, 9 inches at Webster, Sand Lake NWR, Miller, Onaka, and Timber Lake, 10 inches at Leola, Eureka, Sisseton, and Selby, 11 inches at 22 SSW Keldron, and 12 inches at Roscoe. The total damage estimate for this icestorm and blizzard on rural electric coops and livestock producers was 55 million.