South Dakota, 2023

Flood in South Dakota, April 11 to 14, 2023

April 11 to 14, 2023 · NWS ABR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

With below average temperatures through early spring, still frozen soils and deep snow cover, a mild stretch of temperatures during the second week of April resulted in rapid snowmelt. 65 feet on the afternoon of April 12th.

Where it happened

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

With below average temperatures through early spring, still frozen soils and deep snow cover, a mild stretch of temperatures during the second week of April resulted in rapid snowmelt. Much of this melt entered waterways resulting in flooding along the North Fork Yellow Bank River beginning on April 11th with a peak in moderate flood stage at 1044.65 feet on the afternoon of April 12th. At this level, flooding impacted portions of 487th Avenue, a nearby bridge and agricultural lands.

A Presidential Disaster Declaration was approved for Brown, Clark, Codington, Day, Faulk, Grant, Hand, Marshall, Potter and Roberts Counties, as well as for the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation, where an estimated $2,305,362 in total qualifying costs were incurred during spring flooding.

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 Apr 11, 11:14 AM CST, 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 11, 11:14 AM CST, 31 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 11, 2:17 AM CST, 9 hours 28 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 11, 8:42 AM CST, 3 hours 3 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

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Grant

When
April 11, 11:45 AM CST to April 14, 1:45 AM CST
Where
Grant County, 6.39 mi SSE of Milbank Arpt to 3.75 mi SE of Milbank Arpt
Cause
Heavy Rain / Snow Melt
Reported by
River/Stream Gage
Coordinates
45.140, -96.540

What these are

Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Dakota in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, April 2023

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: 1089482.