A rapid warm up developed in early March after significant snowfall at the end of February and the beginning of March. The warm up resulted in a rapid snowmelt which was enough to cause minor to moderate flooding on the James and Big Sioux Rivers, Firesteel Creek, and Split Rock Creek, with a small area of major flooding on the lower Big Sioux River.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS FSD wrote it up.
A rapid warm up developed in early March after significant snowfall at the end of February and the beginning of March. The warm up resulted in a rapid snowmelt which was enough to cause minor to moderate flooding on the James and Big Sioux Rivers, Firesteel Creek, and Split Rock Creek, with a small area of major flooding on the lower Big Sioux River. Lowlands along the rivers were flooded, but no significant damage to farmland, homes, or other property was reported. No significant rain fell during the flooding period, and the flooding subsided during the middle and late part of March.
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 Mar 10, 9:30 PM CST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR SOUTHEAST SD/SOUTHWEST MN/NORTHWEST IA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 930 PM CST SAT MAR 10 2007 .DISCUSSION... NO CHANGES NEEDED TO FCST. HIGH CLOUDS SPREADING ACRS CWA WITH PC SKIES EXPECTED. LOWS LOOK GOOD. .PREV DISCUSSION... TEMPERATURES MAIN FOCUS AGAIN TODAY...WITH LINGERING SNOW COVER PREVENTING THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE. CAN SEE THE SNOW COVER ERODING ALONG THE EDGES ON THE VISIBLE SATELLITE LOOP TODAY. TEMPS INTO THE MID 40S TO LOWER 50S EVEN WITH LIGHT EAST FLOW...NOT A TYPICALLY FAVORED DIRECTION FOR MIXING...SO THINK ESPECIALLY SNOW FREE AREAS SHOULD BE ABLE TO WARM QUITE NICELY NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AS LOW LEVEL WINDS SHIFT TO MORE FAVORABLE SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST DIRECTION. FOR HIGHS TOMORROW AND MONDAY...GENERALLY WENT WITH FULL MIXING TO AROUND 925MB OVER THE SNOW FREE AREAS...TO MORE ISOTHERMAL FROM 925-950MB OVER THE DEEPEST SNOW COVER ALONG THE BUFFALO RIDGE. WARMEST DAY BY FAR WILL BE MONDAY...WHEN 925MB TEMPS ON BOTH NAM AND GFS CLIMB WELL INTO THE TEENS. NAM BUFKIT SOUNDINGS TRYING TO SHOW INVERSION ONLY MIXING OUT TO 950MB...IF THAT...AT MANY LOCATIONS MONDAY AFTERNOON. BUT WITH FAIR AMOUNT OF SUNSHINE AND FAVORABLE SOUTHWEST MIXING FLOW IN THE LOW LEVELS...DO NOT THINK INVERSION WILL HOLD THAT STRONG...ESPECIALLY OVER BARE GROUND. EVEN CONSERVATIVE ISOTHERMAL MIXING IN SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA GIVES MID TO UPPER 50S...AND WITH ANOTHER DAY AND NIGHT OF GOOD MELTING WEATHER BETWEEN NOW AND THEN...WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE A 60F POP UP EVEN THERE MONDAY AFTERNOON. COOL FRONT STILL SLATED TO DROP THROUGH THE AREA MONDAY NIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY. NOT REALLY A LOT OF UPPER SUPPORT PUSHING THE FRONT THROUGH...SO WENT WITH SLIGHTLY SLOWER NAM SOLUTION...THOUGH TIMING NOT TOO MUCH DIFFERENT FROM GFS. SURFACE FRONT SHOULD COME THROUGH DRY...WITH BETTER MID-UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT FOR PRECIP LAGGING UNTIL STRONGER UPPER WAVE CROSSES THE ROCKIES AND PROVIDES FOR INCREASING MID LEVEL FRONTOGENESIS TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. 12Z GFS QUITE A BIT WARMER IN THE LOW LEVELS AHEAD OF THIS WAVE LATE TUESDAY NIGHT...WARM ENOUGH TO LIMIT ANY POTENTIAL FOR SNOW. HOWEVER...GFS HAS NOT SHOWN MUCH RUN-TO-RUN CONSISTENCY IN DEGREE OF COOLING WITH THIS SYSTEM...SO WILL KEEP MIX OF RAIN/SNOW ACROSS OUR NORTHEAST CWA LATE TUESDAY NIGHT/EARLY WEDNESDAY FOR NOW. ZONAL FLOW DURING THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK WILL BECOME SLIGHTLY MORE AMPLIFIED TOWARDS THE END OF NEXT WEEK...ALLOWING COOLER CANADIAN AIR TO INFILTRATE THE FA. STILL A QUESTION TO THE EXTENT OF THE COOL DOWN BUT SHOULD BE CLOSE TO NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. LOOKS AS THOUGH THE COLDEST AIR WILL BE E INTO THE GREAT LAKES REGION. QUICK MOVING W TO NW FLOW THROUGH THE EXTENDED CREATING ISSUES WITH MODEL TIMING...POSITION...AND STRENGTH OF UPPER FEATURES. GFS CONTINUES TO INDICATE A STRONGER WAVE SOMETIME BETWEEN WED AND THU. WITH LACK OF MODEL CONTINUITY...LEFT POPS STATUS QUO. CERTAINLY THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AT LEAST A LITTLE MOISTURE ANYWHERE IN THE CWA THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD. HOWEVER...WITH THE POSSIBLE EXCEPTION OF THE WED/THU SYSTEM...QPF SHOULD BE VERY LIGHT AND POSES LITTLE ADDITIONAL THREAT TO ANY ONGOING FLOODING PROBLEMS. && .FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...NONE. MN...NONE. NE...NONE. SD...NONE. && JH/LIEBL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 1238 PM CST SAT MAR 10 2007 SDZ038>040-050-052>071-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097-098- IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032-NEZ013-014-111200- 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- 1238 PM CST SAT MAR 10 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA... SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...NORTHWEST IOWA...AND NORTHEAST NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT FLOODING... MILD TEMPERATURES THE PAST FEW DAYS HAVE RAPIDLY MELTED SNOW PACK ACROSS THE AREA. RUNOFF FROM MELTING SNOW IS CURRENTLY PRODUCING MINOR TO MODERATE LOW LAND FLOODING ALONG PORTIONS OF THE LOWER JAMES RIVER. MANY OTHER STREAMS AND RIVERS ACROSS SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA WILL CONTINUE TO RISE OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...AS SNOW CONTINUES TO MELT QUICKLY. GENERALLY...ONLY MINOR TO MODERATE LOW LAND FLOODING IS EXPECTED. INCREASED RIVER FLOWS CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED INTO SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA AND NORTHWEST IOWA BY EARLY NEXT WEEK...AS SNOW RAPIDLY MELT WITH DAYTIME TEMPERATURES MUCH ABOVE NORMAL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .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. LIEBL
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
14 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the James River to rise above flood stage for several days. The flooding was minor to moderate and no significant damage was reported.
Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the James River to rise above flood stage for several days. The flooding was minor to moderate and no significant damage was reported.
Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the James River to rise above flood stage for several days. The flooding was minor to moderate and no significant damage was reported. The river crested at 2.6 feet above flood stage near Scotland on March 15th.
Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the Vermillion River to rise above flood stage for a few days. The flooding was minor to moderate and no significant damage was reported. The river crested at 2.2 feet above flood stage at Davis on March 12th.
Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the Vermillion River to rise above flood stage for a few days. The flooding was minor to moderate and no significant damage was reported. The river crested at 2.0 feet above flood stage near Wakonda on March 12th.
Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the James River to rise above flood stage for several days. The flooding was minor to moderate and no significant damage was reported. The river crested at 2.3 feet above flood stage near Mitchell on March 17th. The snowmelt also caused Firesteel creek to flood for a short time, cresting at 2 feet above flood stage on March 13th.
Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the James River to rise above flood stage for several days. The flooding was minor to moderate and no significant damage was reported.
Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the Big Sioux River to rise above flood stage for several days. The flooding varied from minor to major with lowlands near the river flooded. The amount of damage was not known but was not suspected to be large. The river crested at 7.7 feet above flood stage east of Alcester on March 16th.|
Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the Big Sioux River to rise above flood stage for several days. The flooding was minor to moderate and no significant damage was reported. The river crested at 4 feet above flood stage at Dell rapids on March 16th. The snowmelt also caused brief flooding on Split Rock creek near Corson, which crested at 1.4 feet above flood stage on March 12th.
Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the James River to rise above flood stage for a few days. The flooding was minor and no damage was reported. The river crested at 0.4 foot above flood stage at Huron early on March 15th.
Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the James River to rise above flood stage for several days. The flooding was minor to locally moderate and no significant damage was reported. The river crested at 2.0 feet above flood stage near Forestburg on March 17th.
Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the Big Sioux River to rise above flood stage for several days. The flooding was minor to moderate and no significant damage was reported. The river crested at 2.9 feet above flood stage near Brookings on March 15th.
Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the Big Sioux River to rise above flood stage for several days. The flooding was minor to moderate and no significant damage was reported.
Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the Big Sioux River to rise above flood stage for several days. The flooding was minor to moderate and no significant damage was reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Dakota in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, March 2007
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: 23416, 23417, 23420, 23418, 23419, 23414, 23415, 23425, 23423, 23412, 23413, 23421, 23422, 23424.