South Dakota, 2021

Heavy Snow in South Dakota, December 26 to 27, 2021

December 26 to 27, 2021 · NWS ABR · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

An area of low pressure tracked and deepened across South Dakota from December 26th into the 27th. Gusty winds, freezing drizzle, heavy snow, blowing snow, and even thundersnow resulted across portions of central and/or northeastern South Dakota.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
2

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.

An area of low pressure tracked and deepened across South Dakota from December 26th into the 27th. Gusty winds, freezing drizzle, heavy snow, blowing snow, and even thundersnow resulted across portions of central and/or northeastern South Dakota. Travel was adversely impacted, with several accidents reported. The highest snowfall totals include 6 inches in Milbank and 8 miles ENE of Sisseton, 5.8 inches in La Bolt, 5.5 inches 1 mile west of Twin Brooks, 5.3 inches 4 miles west of Sisseton, and 5 inches in Clear Lake and 7 miles WNW of Hecla.

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 26, 5:29 AM CST, 4 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 26, 5:29 AM CST, 4 hours 31 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, Dec 26, 3:10 AM CST, 6 hours 50 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Aberdeen SD
310 AM CST Sun Dec 26 2021

MNZ039-046-SDZ003>011-015>023-036-037-270915-
Traverse-Big Stone-Corson-Campbell-McPherson-Brown-Marshall-Roberts-
Walworth-Edmunds-Day-Dewey-Potter-Faulk-Spink-Clark-Codington-Grant-
Hamlin-Deuel-Hyde-Hand-
310 AM CST Sun Dec 26 2021 /210 AM MST Sun Dec 26 2021/

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for west central Minnesota,
central South Dakota, north central South Dakota and northeast
South Dakota.

.DAY ONE...Today and tonight.

A system will bring snow to the region later today, with
accumulations mainly north of highway 212. Snowfall amounts will
range between 1 to 4 inches with highest amounts along the North
Dakota state line into western Minnesota. Winds will lead to some
blowing and drifting snow mainly north of highway 12. Tonight, snow
transitions to freezing drizzle with some light ice accumulations
before winds shift to westerly Monday morning.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday.

An arctic blast will follow this system, with well below average
temperatures through the week. Morning readings around 20 below are
possible for early Wednesday with wind chill values on average around
20 to 30 below with locally colder spots.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Weather spotters are encouraged to submit reports to the National
Weather Service in Aberdeen. The public can submit reports on our web
page, Facebook page, or our Twitter feed.

SDZ033>035-045-048-051-270915-
Stanley-Sully-Hughes-Jones-Lyman-Buffalo-
310 AM CST Sun Dec 26 2021 /210 AM MST Sun Dec 26 2021/

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for central South Dakota.

.DAY ONE...Today and tonight.

No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday.

An arctic blast will follow this system, with well below average
temperatures through the week. Morning readings around 10 below are
possible for early Wednesday with wind chill values around 20 below.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not expected at this time.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Grant

When
December 26, 10:00 AM CST to December 27, 3:00 AM CST
Where
Grant forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
45.172, -96.768 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Roberts

When
December 26, 11:00 AM CST to December 27, 4:00 AM CST
Where
Roberts forecast zone
Reported by
CoCoRaHS
Coordinates
45.630, -96.946 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Dakota in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, December 2021

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: 993299, 993298.