Winter Storm in South Dakota, April 19, 2000

A powerful spring storm hit western South Dakota and brought the region to a standstill for 24 to 48 hours. Snowfall amounts ranged from 4 to 12 inches on the plains, to 12 to 24 inches in the foothills and 24 to 36 inches in the Black Hills. Strong north to northeast winds of 30 to 45 mph with gusts to 70 mph occurred for nearly 18 hours creating drifts of 3 to 8 feet. The heavy, wet snow caused moderate to major damage to 6,000 acres of trees in the Black Hills National Forest with an additional 100,000 acres of minor damage. The worst damage was in the central and southern Black Hills. Power companies lost around 1900 poles with up to 2,000 miles of wire on the ground. Over 6,000 people lost power and some locations were without electricity for two weeks. While physical costs of damage from the storm were around 1.5 million dollars, recovery and cleanup cost another 1.5 million dollars. Lighter snow and winds were observed east of the Black Hills. 2 to 6 inches of snow fell with winds from 25 to 40 mph with gusts to 55 mph. The snow was preceded by heavy rainfall of 2 to 4 inches. Some areas also reported intermittent sleet throughout the day.