Winter Storm in South Dakota, February 13 to 14, 2016

Name: Winter Storm in South Dakota, February 13 to 14, 2016
Start: 2016-02-13T16:00
End: 2016-02-14T09:00
Location: South Dakota

February 13 to 14, 2016 · NWS ABR · 13 events in 13 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 13 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: 13

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 winter storm moved across the region and brought a variety of weather including lightning and thunder, sleet, freezing rain, and heavy snow. The freezing rain and sleet were concentrated across central South Dakota. The mixed bag of weather caused travel problems across the region. Heavy snowfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches along with icing amounts from a few hundredths up to three tenths of an inch occurred with this storm. Some of the snowfall amounts include, 6 inches at Aberdeen, Leola, and Doland; 7 inches at Chelsea and Raymond; 8 inches at Butler and east of Lowry; 9 inches at Eagle Butte, Bowdle, and Roscoe; 10 inches east of Hosmer and 12 inches at Gettysburg. Onida received a tenth of an inch of ice with three tenths of an inch of ice at Agar.

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 Feb 13, 2:37 PM CST, 1 hour 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 13, 2:37 PM CST, 1 hour 23 minutes 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, Feb 13, 4:43 AM CST, 11 hours 17 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
443 AM CST SAT FEB 13 2016

MNZ039-046-SDZ003>011-015>023-033>037-045-048-051-141045-
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-
443 AM CST SAT FEB 13 2016 /343 AM MST SAT FEB 13 2016/

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

LIGHT SNOW IS ALREADY STARTING TO MOVE INTO THE FORECAST AREA THIS
MORNING...BUT ACCUMULATING SNOW...BLOWING SNOW...AND FOR WESTERN
AND CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA AN INTERMITTENT WINTRY MIX WILL BEGIN TO
DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WIDESPREAD ACCUMULATING SNOW
IS EXPECTED OVERNIGHT WITH SOME LOCALLY HEAVY SNOWFALL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

SNOWFALL WILL BECOME LESS INTENSE AND MOVE EAST EARLY SUNDAY.
THERE MAY ALSO BE A FEW POCKETS OF LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE AS THE
SYSTEM MIGRATES EAST. MILDER AIR WILL FOLLOW FOR SUNDAY WITH HIGHS
IN THE 30S AND 40S.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

CONNELLY

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

13 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Dewey

When: February 13, 4:00 PM CST to 11:00 PM CST
Where: Dewey forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 45.157, -100.872 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Sully

When: February 13, 6:00 PM CST to February 14, 3:00 AM CST
Where: Sully forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 44.716, -100.132 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Potter

When: February 13, 6:30 PM CST to February 14, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Potter forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 45.065, -99.957 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, McPherson

When: February 13, 7:00 PM CST to February 14, 7:00 AM CST
Where: McPherson forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 45.766, -99.221 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Edmunds

When: February 13, 7:00 PM CST to February 14, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Edmunds forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 45.419, -99.215 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Faulk

When: February 13, 7:00 PM CST to February 14, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Faulk forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 45.071, -99.145 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Hyde

When: February 13, 7:00 PM CST to February 14, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Hyde forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 44.547, -99.487 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Hand

When: February 13, 7:00 PM CST to February 14, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Hand forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 44.548, -99.005 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Walworth

When: February 13, 7:30 PM CST to February 14, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Walworth forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 45.430, -100.032 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Brown

When: February 13, 9:00 PM CST to February 14, 7:00 AM CST
Where: Brown forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 45.590, -98.352 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Spink

When: February 13, 9:00 PM CST to February 14, 8:00 AM CST
Where: Spink forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 44.938, -98.346 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Day

When: February 13, 10:00 PM CST to February 14, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Day forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 45.367, -97.607 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Clark

When: February 13, 10:00 PM CST to February 14, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Clark forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 44.858, -97.729 (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 2016 Every state in 2016 This day in weather history Warnings in South Dakota, February 2016

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 621199, 621202, 621201, 621203, 621204, 621206, 621207, 621209, 621200, 621210, 621213, 621214, 621216.