Snowmelt during late March resulted in rises on some small streams and creeks across the region. Some of these rises pushed toward or into minor flood stage for a short period, but overall impacts were limited mainly to agricultural land.
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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.
The episode as NWS FSD wrote it up.
Snowmelt during late March resulted in rises on some small streams and creeks across the region. Some of these rises pushed toward or into minor flood stage for a short period, but overall impacts were limited mainly to agricultural land.
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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 21, 5:48 PM CST, 3 hours 12 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD 648 PM CDT Tue Mar 21 2023 .SHORT TERM...(This Evening through Wednesday) Issued at 253 PM CDT Tue Mar 21 2023 KEY MESSAGES 1. Precipitation, mainly rain, lifts through areas along and north of I-90 through the evening hours tonight. 2. Next chance of snow arrives Wednesday night with somewhat better consensus among forecast guidance. 3. Temperatures remain near or below normal into the weekend, warmest in locations without widespread snowcover. Rest of Today/Tonight: Elongated inverted trough stretching through the lee of the Rockies will continue to lift northeastward through the evening hours, making its way into west central MN by mid to late evening as a more coherent surface low. As this does so, a band of precipitation will also lift northeastward, largely focusing along and especially north of I-90. Thermal profiles would favor the vast majority of this falling as rain, perhaps with some wet snowflakes into the Hwy 14 corridor. Some indication that a period of fog may form ahead of an incoming cold front tonight. Behind the cold front, west to northwest winds may gust toward 20-25 mph at times, perhaps a bit higher along the Buffalo Ridge. Wednesday: A broad CAA regime and northerly winds keep temperatures on the cool side of normal. Standard north/south gradient in temperatures expected with snow free areas toward the MO River into NW IA achieving the warmest values. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday Night through Tuesday) Issued at 253 PM CDT Tue Mar 21 2023 Wednesday Night into Thursday: Upper level jet max sits overhead going into Wednesday night with next strung out vorticity lobe riding up in the SW flow across mid level baroclinic zone. This should result in an initial area/band of precipitation forming through central SD by early evening Wednesday, refocusing further south by early Thursday morning. Guidance has been highly variable in how focused/tight this band is and where to place it with the ECMWF persistently more broad and south and GFS persistently more north and tightly focused. Latest 12z deterministic, and to a somewhat lesser extent ensemble guidance, has trended toward a more common solution, roughly along a Yankton to Sheldon to Spirit Lake line, although still a variable set of solutions outside of this. Populated QPF from WPC may still be a touch too far north if more deterministic trends of late continue. In either case, forecast soundings suggest most locations see primarily snow from this system with some mix along the immediate MO River counties and southern couple rows of NW IA counties. Snow accumulations look to remain light outside of any more persistent and focused band in which amounts may approach advisory level totals. Any precipitation should quickly come to an end through the first half of Thursday morning with some cloud cover lingering. Friday through Monday: General SW flow regime persist into early next week with temperatures still following the deeper snowpack line. Areas void of snowcover should rise into the 40s and 50s most days with 30s to 40s over snowcovered areas. Main precipitation chances in the extended may focus late Saturday into early Sunday when next wave approaches. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Wednesday Evening) Issued at 647 PM CDT Tue Mar 21 2023 Mostly MVFR and VFR conditions with occasional IFR visibilities will be possible through this TAF period. Looking at radar, light snow continues to transition to rain just east of the James River. While precipitation is falling, ceilings will fall to the MVFR range with occasional IFR visibilities in locally heavy parts. As the wintry precipitation continues to lift northeast, conditions will gradually improve from west to east. Otherwise, southeasterly winds will transition to mostly westerly to northwesterly flow overnight then northerly to northeasterly flow during the day tomorrow to end the TAF period. && .FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SD...None. MN...None. IA...None. NE...None. && SHORT TERM...Kalin LONG TERM...Kalin AVIATION...Gumbs
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD 515 PM CDT Tue Mar 21 2023 IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097- 098-NEZ013-014-SDZ040-055-056-061-062-066-067-069>071-222215- Lyon-Osceola-Dickinson-Sioux-O'Brien-Clay-Plymouth-Cherokee- Buena Vista-Woodbury-Ida-Lincoln-Murray-Cottonwood-Nobles-Jackson- Pipestone-Rock-Dixon-Dakota-Brookings-Lake-Moody-McCook-Minnehaha- Turner-Yankton-Union- 515 PM CDT Tue Mar 21 2023 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northwest Iowa, west central Iowa, southwest Minnesota, northeast Nebraska, east central South Dakota and southeast South Dakota. .DAY ONE...Tonight. Light rain, snow, and wintry mix of the two have developed west of the James River. With temperatures well above freezing east of the James, precipitation will mostly transition to rain as it continues to the northeast over the next several hours. A few hundredths to a tenth of accumulation will be possible in areas along and north of I-90. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday. Another chance for light snow and wintry mix will be possible Wednesday afternoon into Thursday. While minimal impacts are expected at this time, confidence is still low in overall snow amounts at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. SDZ038-039-050-052>054-057>060-063>065-068-222215- Beadle-Kingsbury-Gregory-Jerauld-Sanborn-Miner-Brule-Aurora-Davison- Hanson-Charles Mix-Douglas-Hutchinson-Bon Homme- 515 PM CDT Tue Mar 21 2023 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for central South Dakota, east central South Dakota, south central South Dakota and southeast South Dakota. .DAY ONE...Tonight. The light snow, rain, and wintry mix of the two will begin to clear from west to east over the next several hours. While a few flurries/drizzle remain possible this evening, most areas should become clear just after sunset tonight. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday. Another chance for light snow and wintry mix will be possible Wednesday afternoon into Thursday. While minimal impacts are expected at this time, confidence is still low in overall snow amounts at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Burr Oak Creek near Perkins rose above flood stage the evening of March 21st before cresting around 1.55 feet above flood stage (17.55 feet) early on the morning of March 22nd. The creek fell below flood stage late morning of March 22nd.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
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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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1089196.