Blizzard in South Dakota, December 31, 2010

Name: Blizzard in South Dakota, December 31, 2010
Start: 2010-12-31T08:00
End: 2010-12-31T23:59
Location: South Dakota

December 31, 2010 · NWS ABR · 26 events in 25 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 26 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: 26

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 ABR wrote it up.

A second stronger surface low pressure area moved across the region on New Year's Eve bringing widespread heavy snowfall along with blizzard conditions. Bitter cold northwest winds of 25 to 40 mph combined with additional snowfall of 6 to 10 inches brought visibilities to near zero across much of the region. This was the second blizzard in two days across the region. The blizzard conditions continued into early New Year's Day. Both Interstates 29 and 90 were closed from the 31st until Sunday, January 2nd. There were several stranded motorists along Highway 83 with five people being rescued.

The total snowfall amounts from the two storms ranged from 6 to 15 inches across the region. The two day snowfall amounts included 6 inches at Eagle Butte; 7 inches at Doland; 8 inches at Mobridge and Gann Valley; 9 inches at Castlewood; 10 inches at Murdo, Clark, Ipswich, Kennebec, and Watertown and 11 inches at Clear Lake and Bryant. Locations with a foot or more of snow included 12 inches at Aberdeen, Gettysburg, Highmore, Milbank, Mission Ridge, and Bowdle; 13 inches at Eureka, Pierre, Onida, and Blunt; 14 inches at Mellette, Sisseton, Victor, and Roscoe with 15 inches at Britton, Webster, and Redfield. The snowfall began between 6 am and noon CST on the 31st and ended between 4 am and 11 am CST on the January 1st.

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 Aberdeen, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 31, 4:01 AM CST, 3 hours 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 31, 4:01 AM CST, 3 hours 59 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 31, 4:52 AM CST, 3 hours 8 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
452 AM CST FRI DEC 31 2010

MNZ039-046-SDZ003>011-015>023-033>037-045-048-051-011100-
TRAVERSE-BIG STONE-CORSON-CAMPBELL-MCPHERSON-BROWN-MARSHALL-
ROBERTS-WALWORTH-EDMUNDS-DAY-DEWEY-POTTER-FAULK-SPINK-CLARK-
CODINGTON-GRANT-HAMLIN-DEUEL-STANLEY-SULLY-HUGHES-HYDE-HAND-JONES-
LYMAN-BUFFALO-
452 AM CST FRI DEC 31 2010 /352 AM MST FRI DEC 31 2010/

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL
MINNESOTA...CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA...NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA AND
NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL TRACK ACROSS THE REGION TODAY THROUGH
SATURDAY. THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE ADDITIONAL
SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 10 INCHES ACROSS MOST OF THE REGION.
SNOWFALL RATES OF AN INCH OR TWO AN HOUR WILL BE POSSIBLE AT TIMES
THIS AFTERNOON. STRONG NORTH TO NORTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 35
MPH...WITH GUSTS AROUND 45 MPH WILL ACCOMPANY THIS STORM SYSTEM
WHICH WILL RESULT IN BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...ALONG WITH A
REDUCTION IN VISIBILITIES TO NEAR ZERO. THUS A BLIZZARD WARNING IS
IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON ON SATURDAY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

SNOW AND AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW ARE EXPECTED ON SATURDAY MORNING.
THE SNOW WILL BEGIN TO TAPER OFF BY THE AFTERNOON AND WINDS WILL
ALSO DIMINISH.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT. HOWEVER
SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WOULD GREATLY BE APPRECIATED.

SD

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

26 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Stanley

When: December 31, 8:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Stanley forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 44.412, -100.736 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Hughes

When: December 31, 9:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Hughes forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 44.389, -99.996 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Edmunds

When: December 31, 10:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Edmunds forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 45.419, -99.215 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Faulk

When: December 31, 10:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Faulk forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 45.071, -99.145 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Sully

When: December 31, 10:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Sully forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 44.716, -100.132 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Corson

When: December 31, 11:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Corson forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 45.709, -101.197 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Dewey

When: December 31, 11:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Dewey forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 45.157, -100.872 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Jones

When: December 31, 11:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Jones forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 43.961, -100.690 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Lyman

When: December 31, 11:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Lyman forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.896, -99.847 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Hyde

When: December 31, 11:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Hyde forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 44.547, -99.487 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Hand

When: December 31, 11:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Hand forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 44.548, -99.005 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Spink

When: December 31, 11:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Spink forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 44.938, -98.346 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Clark

When: December 31, 11:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Clark forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 44.858, -97.729 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Roberts

When: December 31, 11:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Roberts forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 45.630, -96.946 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Edmunds

When: December 31, 11:30 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Edmunds forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 45.419, -99.215 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Campbell

When: December 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Campbell forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 45.771, -100.052 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Walworth

When: December 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Walworth forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 45.430, -100.032 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Potter

When: December 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Potter forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 45.065, -99.957 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Codington

When: December 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Codington forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 44.978, -97.189 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Hamlin

When: December 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Hamlin forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 44.674, -97.188 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Grant

When: December 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Grant forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 45.172, -96.768 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Brown

When: December 31, 12:30 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Brown forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 45.590, -98.352 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Buffalo

When: December 31, 1:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Buffalo forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 44.076, -99.205 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Day

When: December 31, 1:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Day forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 45.367, -97.607 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Marshall

When: December 31, 1:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Marshall forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 45.759, -97.598 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Deuel

When: December 31, 2:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Deuel forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 44.760, -96.668 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Blizzard: Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in South Dakota in 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings in South Dakota, December 2010

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: 274578, 274582, 274573, 274576, 274581, 274568, 274569, 274579, 274580, 274583, 274584, 274588, 274591, 274595, 274574, 274570, 274571, 274572, 274592, 274593, 274596, 274587, 274585, 274589, 274590, 274603.