Winter Storm in South Dakota, February 8 to 9, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in South Dakota, February 8 to 9, 2002
Start: 2002-02-08T17:30
End: 2002-02-09T18:41
Location: South Dakota

February 8 to 9, 2002 · NWS UNR · 18 events in 18 counties and zones

A Powerful winter storm brought widespread snow to most of Western South Dakota. 2 inches of snow reported in Lead, South Dakota, while much of the remainder of the Black Hills received 6 to 8 inches of snow.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 18 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 18

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS UNR wrote it up.

A Powerful winter storm brought widespread snow to most of Western South Dakota. Heavy snow fell over the Northern Black Hills with 19.2 inches of snow reported in Lead, South Dakota, while much of the remainder of the Black Hills received 6 to 8 inches of snow. On the Western South Dakota plains snowfall amounts were general 3 to 4 inches, however, near blizzard conditions persisted during the evening hours of February 8 and the morning hours of Feb 9. Wind gusts over 50 mph were common, producing significant blowing and drifting snow, and reducing visibilities to just yards.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Rapid City, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 8, 3:00 PM MST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 8, 3:00 PM MST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
300 PM MST FRI FEB 8 2002

UPR/SFC LOW RAPIDLY EVOLVING AS IT CROSSES INTO NORTHERN PLAINS. SFC
LOW NEAR KPHP WITH WINDS TURNING NORTH FROM KGCC TO KRAP. SNOW
ALREADY FALLING ACROSS NERN WY WITH PLENTY STILL TO COME...AS
EVIDENT IN WIDE PCPN SHIELD OVER THE ERN HALF OF MT.  DIFFICULTIES
THIS PACKAGE WITH SNOW AMOUNTS AND STRONG WINDS THROUGH SAT.

NOT A TON OF UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS TO PRODUCE HEAVY SNOW ACRS CWFA.
HOWEVER...EXPECT IMPRESSIVE UPSLOPE TO DEVELOP TNGT NRN BLACK HILLS
WITH HIGH FROUDE NUMBERS AND DEEP RH.  REST OF CWFA PROBABLY
REMAINING UNDER 6 INCHES...WITH DOWNSLOPE FAVORED PORTIONS OF SWRN
SD RECEIVING MINIMAL AMOUNTS.  HOWEVER...MOMENTUM TRANSFER AND PRES
GRADS SUPPORT WINDS TO 70 MPH THROUGH SAT MRNG.  18Z ETA BUFKIT
SHOWING DEEP LAYER OF 60-65 KTS JUST OFF SFC. THIS WILL CREATE NEAR
BLIZZARD CONDS ACRS MAJORITY OF CWFA WHERE WINTER STORM WARNINGS ARE
IN EFFECT.  THIS SYSTEM SHOULD PULL E DURING THE DAY SAT WITH PCPN
AND WINDS ON THE DECREASE FROM W TO E.

REMAINDER OF FCST PD OUT TO DAY 7 LOOKS RELATIVELY QUITE UNDER
GENERALLY W-NW FLOW...WITH MOST UPR ENERGY REMAINING ALG U.S./CNDN
BDR. TEMPS NEAR TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE CLIMO LOOK REASONABLE.

.UNR...WINTER STORM WARNING TNGT NERN WY THROUGH SCNTRL SD.
WINTER STORM WARNING SAT FOR NWRN THROUGH SCNTRL SD.
HIGH WIND WARNING TNGT THROUGH SAT MRNG FOR SWRN SD AND SRN BLACK
HILLS.

JOHNSON

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

18 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Central Black Hills / W Pennington / Pennington

When: February 8, 5:30 PM MST to February 9, 11:50 AM MST
Where: Central Black Hills / W Pennington / Pennington forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.841, -103.137 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Harding

When: February 9, 12:00 AM MST to 11:50 AM MST
Where: Harding forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.580, -103.496 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Perkins

When: February 9, 12:00 AM MST to 11:50 AM MST
Where: Perkins forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.491, -102.476 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Butte / Except X Sw Butte

When: February 9, 2:00 AM MST to 11:50 AM MST
Where: Butte / Except X Sw Butte forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.906, -103.508 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Meade Co. Plains / Except X Sw Meade

When: February 9, 2:00 AM MST to 11:50 AM MST
Where: Meade Co. Plains / Except X Sw Meade forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.567, -102.717 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Ziebach

When: February 9, 2:00 AM MST to 11:50 AM MST
Where: Ziebach forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.980, -101.666 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Northern Black Hills / Lawrence Except N / Lawrence Except Sw Meade

When: February 9, 4:00 AM MST to 11:50 AM MST
Where: Northern Black Hills / Lawrence Except N / Lawrence Except Sw Meade forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.310, -103.111 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Northern Foot Hills / N Lawrence / X Sw Butte / Part of Sw Meade

When: February 9, 4:00 AM MST to 11:50 AM MST
Where: Northern Foot Hills / N Lawrence / X Sw Butte / Part of Sw Meade forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.359, -103.792 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Haakon

When: February 9, 4:00 AM MST to 11:50 AM MST
Where: Haakon forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.294, -101.540 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Pennington Plains / E Pennington

When: February 9, 5:00 AM MST to 11:50 AM MST
Where: Pennington Plains / E Pennington forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.004, -102.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Central Foot Hills / C Pennington / Part of E Custer

When: February 9, 6:00 AM MST to 11:50 AM MST
Where: Central Foot Hills / C Pennington / Part of E Custer forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.004, -102.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Custer Plains / X E Custer

When: February 9, 6:00 AM MST to 11:50 AM MST
Where: Custer Plains / X E Custer forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.678, -103.451 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Oglala Lakota

When: February 9, 7:00 AM MST to 3:00 PM MST
Where: Oglala Lakota forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.336, -102.552 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Jackson

When: February 9, 8:00 AM MST to 3:00 PM MST
Where: Jackson forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.694, -101.628 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Bennett

When: February 9, 9:00 AM MST to 3:00 PM MST
Where: Bennett forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.195, -101.664 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Mellette

When: February 9, 9:00 AM MST to 6:41 PM MST
Where: Mellette forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.581, -100.760 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Todd

When: February 9, 9:00 AM MST to 6:41 PM MST
Where: Todd forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.193, -100.718 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Tripp

When: February 9, 10:30 AM MST to 6:41 PM MST
Where: Tripp forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.346, -99.884 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in South Dakota in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in South Dakota, February 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5280427, 5280428, 5280429, 5280430, 5280431, 5280434, 5280426, 5280433, 5280435, 5280432, 5280437, 5280438, 5280436, 5280439, 5280440, 5280441, 5280442, 5280443.