Blizzard in South Dakota, December 21 to 23, 2022

Name: Blizzard in South Dakota, December 21 to 23, 2022
Start: 2022-12-21T14:00
End: 2022-12-23T10:00
Location: South Dakota

December 21 to 23, 2022 · NWS UNR · 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 UNR wrote it up.

An Arctic cold front brought some snow, including snow squalls, along with extremely low temperatures, strong winds, and bitter cold wind chills. New snowfall of a few inches, along with considerable, blowable snowpack from the previous week's blizzard, combined with the strong winds to produce a prolonged period of blizzard or near blizzard conditions across a good portion of the western and south-central South Dakota plains. The worst conditions were on Thursday, when gusts of 50 to over 60 mph developed. Interstate 90 was closed east of Rapid City for almost two days due to the blowing snow and near zero visibility at times. Many secondary roads across the plains became impassable due to high drifts as well.

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 Dec 21, 10:00 AM MST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 21, 10:00 AM MST, 4 hours before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, Dec 21, 1:58 PM MST, 2 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

13 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Harding

When: December 21, 2:00 PM MST to December 22, 9:00 PM MST
Where: Harding forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 45.580, -103.496 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Pennington Co Plains

When: December 21, 2:00 PM MST to December 23, 12:00 AM MST
Where: Pennington Co Plains forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 44.004, -102.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Perkins

When: December 21, 6:00 PM MST to December 23, 6:00 AM MST
Where: Perkins forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 45.491, -102.476 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Northern Meade Co Plains

When: December 21, 6:00 PM MST to December 23, 6:00 AM MST
Where: Northern Meade Co Plains forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 44.567, -102.717 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Ziebach

When: December 21, 6:00 PM MST to December 23, 9:00 AM MST
Where: Ziebach forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 44.980, -101.666 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Butte

When: December 22, 5:00 AM MST to December 23, 12:00 AM MST
Where: Butte forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 44.906, -103.508 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Southern Meade Co Plains

When: December 22, 5:00 AM MST to December 23, 12:00 AM MST
Where: Southern Meade Co Plains forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 44.567, -102.717 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Bennett

When: December 22, 6:00 AM MST to 9:00 PM MST
Where: Bennett forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 43.195, -101.664 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Haakon

When: December 22, 7:00 AM MST to December 23, 9:00 AM MST
Where: Haakon forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 44.294, -101.540 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Jackson

When: December 22, 7:00 AM MST to December 23, 3:00 AM MST
Where: Jackson forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 43.694, -101.628 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Todd

When: December 22, 8:00 AM CST to December 23, 8:00 AM CST
Where: Todd forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 43.193, -100.718 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Mellette

When: December 22, 10:00 AM CST to December 23, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Mellette forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 43.581, -100.760 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Tripp

When: December 22, 10:00 AM CST to December 23, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Tripp forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.346, -99.884 (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 2022 Every state in 2022 This day in weather history Warnings in South Dakota, December 2022

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: 1062658, 1062669, 1062659, 1062664, 1062666, 1062661, 1062681, 1062676, 1062671, 1062674, 1062679, 1062677, 1062680.