Winter Storm in South Dakota, December 20 to 21, 2006

Name: Winter Storm in South Dakota, December 20 to 21, 2006
Start: 2006-12-20T18:00
End: 2006-12-21T12:00
Location: South Dakota

December 20 to 21, 2006 · NWS FSD · 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: $120,000
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 FSD wrote it up.

Freezing rain and snow fell over part of southeast South Dakota in the western Missouri to James River area, from Gregory and Pickstown in the west to Mitchell and Freeman in the east. The precipitation fell from the evening of Wednesday December 20th through the morning hours of Thursday December 21st. Icing of a quarter inch or more broke off tree branches and power lines. Snow accumulations following the freezing rain varied from 1 or 2 inches in the eastern part of this area to as much as 7 inches in Gregory County. Travel was severely hampered. Classes for December 21st were cancelled at several schools.

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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 20, 5:00 PM CST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 20, 5:00 PM CST, 1 hour before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 20, 5:41 AM CST, 12 hours 19 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
0541 AM CST WED DEC 20 2006

SDZ038>040-050-052>071-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097-098-
IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032-NEZ013-014-211200-
AURORA-BEADLE-BON HOMME-BROOKINGS-BRULE-BUENA VISTA IA-
CHARLES MIX-CHEROKEE IA-CLAY-CLAY IA-COTTONWOOD MN-DAKOTA NE-
DAVISON-DICKINSON IA-DIXON NE-DOUGLAS-GREGORY-HANSON-HUTCHINSON-
IDA IA-JACKSON MN-JERAULD-KINGSBURY-LAKE-LINCOLN-LINCOLN MN-
LYON IA-LYON MN-MCCOOK-MINER-MINNEHAHA-MOODY-MURRAY MN-NOBLES MN-
OBRIEN IA-OSCEOLA IA-PIPESTONE MN-PLYMOUTH IA-ROCK MN-SANBORN-
SIOUX IA-TURNER-UNION-WOODBURY IA-YANKTON-
0541 AM CST WED DEC 20 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA...
SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...NORTHWEST IOWA...AND NORTHEAST NEBRASKA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

WINTER WEATHER...
RAIN AND PATCHY FREEZING RAIN WILL AFFECT AREAS MAINLY SOUTH OF
INTERSTATE 90 THIS MORNING...THEN TEMPERATURES SHOULD RISE INTO
THE MID 30S AND DECREASE THE THREAT FOR ANY SIGNIFICANT ICING.
RAIN IS THEN EXPECTED TO CHANGE TO SNOW FROM WEST TO EAST OVER
FAR SOUTHERN SOUTH DAKOTA AND NORTHERN NEBRASKA TONIGHT...WITH
SOME OF THIS SNOW BECOMING HEAVY AT TIMES. AREAS NEAR THE
MISSOURI RIVER IN SOUTH DAKOTA COULD SEE A COUPLE OF INCHES
BEFORE 600 AM CST THURSDAY MORNING. CLOSER TO INTERSTATE
90...MAINLY A DUSTING IS EXPECTED BEFORE 600 AM CST.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

RAIN AND PATCHY FREEZING RAIN WILL GIVE WAY TO SNOW ON
THURSDAY...WITH THE HEAVIEST SNOW FALLING IN EXTREME SOUTHEAST
SOUTH DAKOTA...WHERE 5 TO 8 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE. ALONG
INTERSTATE 90...3 TO 6 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH LESSER
AMOUNTS NORTH OF INTERSTATE 90. NORTHWEST IOWA SHOULD SEE THE
LEAST AMOUNT OF SNOW AS RAIN WILL TAKE LONGER TO CHANGE OVER.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT.

&&

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT
WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/FSD. THIS INCLUDES THE GRAPHICAL HAZARDOUS
WEATHER OUTLOOK.

08

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, Douglas

When: December 20, 6:00 PM CST to December 21, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Douglas forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 43.387, -98.366 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Freezing rain caused significant icing of around a quarter inch, which caused branches and power lines to break in a few places. The freezing rain was followed by 1 to 3 inches of snow. Travel was greatly slowed. Classes for December 21st were cancelled at several schools.

Winter Storm, Hutchinson

When: December 20, 6:00 PM CST to December 21, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Hutchinson forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 43.335, -97.754 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Gregory

When: December 20, 6:00 PM CST to December 21, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Gregory forecast zone
Property damage: $40,000
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 43.192, -99.186 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Freezing rain caused significant icing of a quarter to a half inch, which caused branches and power lines to break in several places. The freezing rain was followed by 4 to 7 inches of snow, with the 7 inch report northwest of the town of Gregory. Travel was greatly slowed and was brought to a standstill in places. Several vehicles slid off roads. Classes for December 21st were cancelled at several schools.

Winter Storm, Charles Mix

When: December 20, 6:00 PM CST to December 21, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Charles Mix forecast zone
Property damage: $40,000
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 43.208, -98.588 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Freezing rain caused significant icing of a quarter to a half inch, which caused branches and power lines to break in several places. The freezing rain was followed by 2 to 5 inches of snow, with the 5 inch report west northwest of the town of Platte. Travel was greatly slowed and was brought to a standstill in places. Several vehicles slid off roads. Classes for December 21st were cancelled at several schools.

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 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in South Dakota, December 2006

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: 8625, 8626, 8627, 8628.