Winter Storm in South Dakota, March 17 to 19, 2003

Name: Winter Storm in South Dakota, March 17 to 19, 2003
Start: 2003-03-17T21:00
End: 2003-03-19T03:00
Location: South Dakota

March 17 to 19, 2003 · NWS UNR · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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: 4

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 potent winter storm slowly moved across the central Rockies and through the northern Plains. Though much of the precipitation was in the form of rain across western South Dakota, some heavy snow fell across the higher elevations of the Black Hills. Rain began to fall across western South Dakota during the late afternoon and evening hours of the 17th. The rain slowly began to change over to snow across the higher elevations of the Black Hills during the night and continued through the next day. Snowfall amounts across much of the northern and central Black Hills, as well as the northern foothills, were in the 3 to 6 inch range, with higher amounts at elevations above 5000 feet. Little or no snow was received across the remainder of western South Dakota. However, a prolonged period of freezing rain developed across extreme northwestern South Dakota during the morning hours of the 18th. The freezing rain accumulations created very slick roads and downed tree limbs across the area.

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 Mar 17, 7:55 PM MST, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 17, 7:55 PM MST, 1 hour 5 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 17, 6:20 AM MST, 14 hours 40 minutes before

SDZ001-002-012>014-024>032-041>044-046-047-049-072>074-WYZ054>058-
071-181400-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
620 AM MST MON MAR 17 2003

...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT FOR NORTHEASTERN
WYOMING AND THE BLACK HILLS...

...WINTER STORM WATCH TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT FOR THE NORTHERN
AND EASTERN FOOTHILLS...ALONG WITH HARDING AND BUTTE COUNTIES OF
NORTHWESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA...

...HEAVY RAIN AND SNOW ARE EXPECTED ACROSS NORTHEASTERN WYOMING AND
WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA AND
NORTHEASTERN WYOMING.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A POWERFUL STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE OUT ONTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS TODAY.
THIS WILL DRAW COLDER AIR SOUTHWARD TO THE LEE OF THE ROCKIES ACROSS
NORTHEASTERN WYOMING AND ABUNDANT WARM MOIST AIR NORTHWARD ACROSS
WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA. THE WARM AIR OVERUNNING THE COLDER AIR WILL
PRODUCE HEAVY SNOW OVER NORTHEASTERN WYOMING AND THE BLACK
HILLS...STARTING TODAY. RAIN IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE OVER TO SNOW OVER
THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN FOOTHILLS...AND OVER PORTIONS OF
NORTHWESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA LATER TONIGHT. ALSO...THERE WILL BE A
CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.

THE SLOW MOVING STORM SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE REGION ON
TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. BY THE TIME THE SNOW TAPERS OFF ON
WEDNESDAY...HEAVY WET SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH UP TO
A FOOT OVER PORTIONS OF NORTHEASTERN WYOMING...UP TO 2 FEET OR MORE
OVER PORTIONS OF THE NORTHERN BLACK HILLS...UP TO 10 INCHES OVER
PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHERN BLACK HILLS...WITH MORE THAN 6 INCHES
POSSIBLE OVER THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN FOOTHILLS AND OVER PORTIONS
OF HARDING AND BUTTE COUNTIES IN NORTHWESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA.

ONE TO TWO INCHES OF LIQUID PRECIPITATION FROM TODAY THROUGH
TUESDAY NIGHT LOOKS LIKELY AT THIS TIME...WITH LOCALIZED AMOUNTS IN
EXCESS OF 3 INCHES POSSIBLE IN FAVORED UPSLOPE AREAS OF THE EASTERN
AND NORTHERN FOOTHILLS AND THE NORTHERN BLACK HILLS.

AFTER THE RECENT STRETCH OF WARM WEATHER...MELTING SNOW AND
RAIN...THE GROUND ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA IS SATURATED AND HEAVY
RAINS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO CAUSE SOME RIVERS AND CREEKS TO RISE TO
NEAR FLOOD LEVELS LATER THIS WEEK.

AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THAT THE BELLE FOURCHE RIVER AND SPEARFISH
AND BOX ELDER CREEKS HAVE THE MOST POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING...ALTHOUGH
ALL STREAMS AND RIVERS ACROSS NORTHEASTERN WYOMING AND WESTERN SOUTH
DAKOTA SHOULD BE MONITORED FOR RISING WATER DURING THE REST OF THIS
WEEK.

GR

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Harding

When: March 17, 9:00 PM MST to March 18, 12:00 PM 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, Northern Black Hills

When: March 17, 10:00 PM MST to March 19, 3:00 AM MST
Where: Northern Black Hills forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.310, -103.111 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Central Black Hills

When: March 17, 10:00 PM MST to March 19, 3:00 AM MST
Where: Central Black Hills forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.841, -103.137 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Northern Foot Hills

When: March 17, 10:00 PM MST to March 19, 3:00 AM MST
Where: Northern Foot Hills forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.359, -103.792 (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 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in South Dakota, March 2003

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5347043, 5346082, 5346083, 5346084.