South Dakota, 2018

Winter Storm in South Dakota, February 8 to 9, 2018

February 8 to 9, 2018 · NWS UNR · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

A storm system brought a band of heavy snow to portions of northwest South Dakota. Snow amounts of 6 to 12 inches fell from western and southern portions of Harding County to northern Butte, northern Meade, and Ziebach counties.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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
7

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 UNR wrote it up.

A storm system brought a band of heavy snow to portions of northwest South Dakota. Snow amounts of 6 to 12 inches fell from western and southern portions of Harding County to northern Butte, northern Meade, and Ziebach counties. A narrow band of heavy snow also developed over the northeastern foothills of the Black Hills, from Whitewood to Piedmont.

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 Rapid City, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 7, 10:13 PM MST, 1 hour 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 7, 10:13 PM MST, 1 hour 47 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>

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Harding

When
February 8, 12:00 AM MST to 10:00 PM MST
Where
Harding forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
45.580, -103.496 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Butte

When
February 8, 1:00 AM MST to 10:00 PM MST
Where
Butte forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
44.906, -103.508 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Northern Meade Co Plains

When
February 8, 3:00 AM MST to 11:00 PM MST
Where
Northern Meade Co Plains forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
44.567, -102.717 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Southern Meade Co Plains

When
February 8, 3:00 AM MST to 11:00 PM MST
Where
Southern Meade Co Plains forecast zone
Reported by
CoCoRaHS
Coordinates
44.567, -102.717 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Ziebach

When
February 8, 5:00 AM MST to February 9, 12:00 AM MST
Where
Ziebach forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
44.980, -101.666 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Northern Foot Hills

When
February 8, 12:00 PM MST to February 9, 2:00 AM MST
Where
Northern Foot Hills forecast zone
Reported by
CoCoRaHS
Coordinates
44.359, -103.792 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Sturgis / Piedmont Foothills

When
February 8, 2:00 PM MST to February 9, 2:00 AM MST
Where
Sturgis / Piedmont Foothills forecast zone
Reported by
NWS Employee
Coordinates
44.567, -102.717 (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

More

Every storm in South Dakota in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, February 2018

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: 733629, 733630, 733631, 733634, 733632, 733636, 733637.