A mid February warm up caused ice break-up and subsequent ice jam flooding along the White River from south of Interior to the Missouri 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 ABR wrote it up.
A mid February warm up caused ice break-up and subsequent ice jam flooding along the White River from south of Interior to the Missouri River.
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 Feb 16, 8:17 PM CST, 43 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD 817 PM CST WED FEB 16 2011 .UPDATE... MADE A FEW MINOR CHANGES TO OVERNIGHT MINIMUMS AND SKY COVER TONIGHT...MAINLY TO DECREASE SKY COVER WEST AND CENTRAL AND RAISE LOWS BY SEVERAL DEGREES WEST RIVER. ALSO INCREASED CLOUD COVER AND FOG COVERAGE ALONG THE I-29 CORRIDOR EASTWARD INTO WEST-CENTRAL MINNESOTA AS LOW STRATUS/FOG CONTINUES TO SPREAD RAPIDLY NORTHWESTWARD FROM IOWA. && .PREV DISCUSSION... .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT THERE ARE A FEW CHALLENGES FACING THE SHORT TERM OVER THE NEXT 12 TO 36 HOURS. THE FORECAST CHALLENGES FOR TONIGHT WILL BE WHETHER OR NOT LOW CLOUDS AND/OR FOG DEVELOPS OVER THE EASTERN CWA OR ALONG I29. MODEL SOUNDINGS ARE SHOWING A VERY MOIST LAYER IN THE LOWEST 50MB OF THE ATMOSPHERE...WHICH COULD EITHER BE FOG AND/OR LOW STRATUS. HOWEVER HI-RES MODELS ARE SHOWING WINDS INCREASING FROM THE SSW TONIGHT WHICH MAY KEEP THE FOG AT A MINIMUM. WILL ADD IN AREAS OF FOG WHERE THE WINDS WILL BE THE WEAKEST AND HAVE ALSO INCREASED SKY COVER SOME. THE FORECAST CHALLENGE ON THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT IS WHETHER OR NOT PATCHY DRIZZLE DEVELOPS DURING THE DAY...BEFORE TRANSITIONING OVER TO FLURRIES/LIGHT SNOW AT NIGHT. A FEW MODEL SOUNDINGS ARE SUGGESTING DRIZZLE COULD BE POSSIBLE FOR LOCATIONS ALONG THE ND/SD BORDER...HOWEVER DUE TO LOW FORECASTER CONFIDENCE WILL LEAVE THE THURSDAY TIME PERIOD DRY. ALSO...MODELS ARE SHOWING A FAIRLY SIGNIFICANT PRESSURE RISE MOVING ACROSS THE REGION THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING. SOME MODEL GUIDANCE ARE SUPPORTING LOW END WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA...ESPECIALLY FOR LOCATIONS ALONG AND WEST OF THE MISSOURI AND FOR LOCATIONS ON THE LEE SIDE OF THE SISSETON HILLS. WILL FORGO ISSUING A WIND ADVISORY AT THIS TIME...BUT IT IS SOMETHING WORTH CONSIDERING. HIGH PRESSURE WILL DOMINANT THE REGION BEYOND THURSDAY NIGHT WHICH WILL BRING DRY BUT COLDER CONDITIONS TO THE REGION. .LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT THE MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE AN ACTIVE PATTERN IN THE EXTENDED WITH A PERSISTENT LONG WAVE WEST COAST TROUGH IN PLACE. AS AREAS OF LOW PRESSURE EJECT OUT OF THE TROUGH...THEY WILL TRAVERSE TOWARD THE PLAINS. MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGES INCLUDE MODEL DISCREPANCIES AT THE END OF THE PERIOD AND TIMING OF THE SYSTEMS. OVERALL GFS SEEMS TO BE KEEPING ITS FASTER BIAS...SO LEANED MORE TOWARD THE EC WITH REGARD TO SYSTEM SPEED AND EVOLUTION. THERE IS A 12 TO 18 HOUR DIFFERENCE WITH BOTH SYSTEMS DURING THE PERIOD BETWEEN THE TWO MODELS. WITH THIS IN MIND INCREASED POPS FOR SUN NIGHT AND MONDAY SLIGHTLY. ANOTHER SYSTEM APPROACHES THE AREA THURSDAY. DECIDED AT THIS TIME TO KEEP WEDNESDAY DRY. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL FOR DAYTIME HIGHS IN THE EXTENDED WITH A POSSIBLE REBOUND TO NEAR NORMAL BY WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY WITH WAA AHEAD OF THE SECOND SYSTEM. && .AVIATION... TAFS FOR THE KABR...KATY...KPIR AND KMBG TERMINALS PREVAILING VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED AT ALL TAF LOCATIONS THROUGH TONIGHT. BY APPROXIMATELY 06Z THURSDAY...LIFR STRATUS/FOG WILL SPREAD NORTHWESTWARD TO NEAR THE I-29 CORRIDOR...IMPACTING KATY THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS THURSDAY. A STRONG AND DRY COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP IN FROM THE WEST THURSDAY AFTERNOON. STRONG WEST TO NORTHWEST WIND WILL DEVELOP AROUND MID-DAY THURSDAY AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. && .ABR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SD...NONE. MN...NONE. && UPDATE...CHURCH SHORT TERM...SD LONG TERM...WISE AVIATION...CHURCH WEATHER.GOV/ABERDEEN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD 345 AM CST WED FEB 16 2011 MNZ039-046-SDZ003>011-015>023-033>037-045-048-051-170945- 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- 345 AM CST WED FEB 16 2011 /245 AM MST WED FEB 16 2011/ 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 NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY A STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. THIS SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CAUSE HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS...HOWEVER EXACT TRACK AND IMPACTS FROM THIS SYSTEM REMAIN IN QUESTION AND WILL BE ADDRESSED IN UPCOMING FORECASTS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT. CONNELLY
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The White River fluctuated above and below flood stage for several days causing minor flooding to occur. The river gage southwest of Oacoma along Highway 47 crested at 21.4 feet or 6.4 feet above flood stage. Flooding of agricultural land occurred.
Minor flooding occurred along the White River. The river gage on the Highway 83 bridge north of White River, SD crested at 14.7 feet or 0.7 feet above flood stage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Dakota in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, February 2011
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: 286930, 286929.