Blizzard in South Dakota, January 17 to 18, 2020

Name: Blizzard in South Dakota, January 17 to 18, 2020
Start: 2020-01-17T10:00
End: 2020-01-18T18:00
Location: South Dakota

January 17 to 18, 2020 · NWS ABR · 19 events in 19 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 19 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: 19

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 strong surface low pressure system tracked from Wyoming across South Dakota on Friday, January 17th and Saturday, January 18th. Two periods of snowfall occurred with this system with the first snow event starting early to mid morning Friday across northeast South Dakota and ending by late afternoon. Moderate to heavy snowfall with south winds from 30 to 40 mph gusting to over 50 mph brought a period of blizzard conditions to northeast South Dakota from the morning to the late afternoon on Friday. By Friday evening, a brief lull in the winds allowed for improvements to the visibility.

A second quick period of snowfall occurred in the late evening and early morning hours with an Arctic cold front coming in from the northwest. Northwest winds of 30 to 40 mph gusting to over 50 mph behind the front brought a second round of blizzard conditions from late Friday evening into the early morning hours Saturday. Ground blizzard conditions then continued through much of the day Saturday across northeast South Dakota. Very cold air moved in with the northwest winds as well.

Impacts included road closures such as I-29 across all of eastern SD from Friday evening through the afternoon Saturday. Portions of I-90 were also closed with other roads closed for even longer. Some power outages occurred along with many vehicles in ditches. The Arctic front surge on Friday evening caught a resident in Mcpherson county off guard. He left Long Lake in the late evening where about 3 inches of snow had fallen with no wind. As he traveled to Highway 10 and turned west, the Arctic front hit with very strong winds and blizzard conditions. His pickup went into the ditch only 3 miles from home. He was stuck through the night into Saturday morning the 18th. He stayed with his vehicle and cleared his tailpipe every half hour. The pickup heater quit working at 3 am and the windows iced up. Ground blizzard conditions remained into Saturday when he was rescued about 1030 am. There was also another vehicle stranded about 100 yards away. On Friday, many schools were closed with nearly all activities canceled or postponed for the weekend. The governor closed state branch executive offices for Friday afternoon.

Snowfall amounts ranged from 1 to 6 inches from the Missouri River east through northeast South Dakota. The highest amounts included, 3 inches at Sisseton, Webster, Aberdeen, Long Lake, and Clear Lake; 4 inches at Eureka, Bowdle, and Faulkton; 5 inches at Clark, Roy Lake, and Castlewood; and 6 inches at Summit, Milbank, and 3 miles east of Watertown.

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 Jan 17, 5:16 AM CST, 4 hours 44 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 17, 5:16 AM CST, 4 hours 44 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 17, 4:20 AM CST, 5 hours 40 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

19 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Hamlin

When: January 17, 10:00 AM CST to January 18, 6:00 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, Codington

When: January 17, 10:30 AM CST to January 18, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Codington forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 44.978, -97.189 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Clark

When: January 17, 11:00 AM CST to January 18, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Clark forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 44.858, -97.729 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Roberts

When: January 17, 11:00 AM CST to January 18, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Roberts forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 45.630, -96.946 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Grant

When: January 17, 11:00 AM CST to January 18, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Grant forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 45.172, -96.768 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Deuel

When: January 17, 11:00 AM CST to January 18, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Deuel forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 44.760, -96.668 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Day

When: January 17, 1:00 PM CST to January 18, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Day forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 45.367, -97.607 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Marshall

When: January 17, 2:10 PM CST to January 18, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Marshall forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 45.759, -97.598 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Walworth

When: January 17, 8:30 PM CST to January 18, 7:00 AM 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: January 17, 8:30 PM CST to January 18, 7:00 AM CST
Where: Potter forecast zone
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 45.065, -99.957 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Campbell

When: January 17, 9:30 PM CST to January 18, 3:00 AM CST
Where: Campbell forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 45.771, -100.052 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Edmunds

When: January 17, 9:30 PM CST to January 18, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Edmunds forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 45.419, -99.215 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, McPherson

When: January 17, 10:00 PM CST to January 18, 4:00 PM CST
Where: McPherson forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 45.766, -99.221 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Faulk

When: January 17, 10:00 PM CST to January 18, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Faulk forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 45.071, -99.145 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Buffalo

When: January 17, 10:00 PM CST to January 18, 5:00 AM CST
Where: Buffalo forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 44.076, -99.205 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Hyde

When: January 17, 10:30 PM CST to January 18, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Hyde forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 44.547, -99.487 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Hand

When: January 17, 10:30 PM CST to January 18, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Hand forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 44.548, -99.005 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Spink

When: January 18, 12:00 AM CST to 4:00 PM CST
Where: Spink forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 44.938, -98.346 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Brown

When: January 18, 12:30 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where: Brown forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 45.590, -98.352 (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 2020 Every state in 2020 This day in weather history Warnings in South Dakota, January 2020

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: 871903, 871899, 871897, 871898, 871904, 871905, 871896, 871895, 871885, 871886, 871882, 871887, 871888, 871889, 871892, 871890, 871891, 871894, 871893.