South Dakota, 2023

Flood in South Dakota, March 16, 2023

March 16, 2023 · NWS FSD · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Snowmelt during mid 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.

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 FSD wrote it up.

Snowmelt during mid 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.

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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 15, 10:07 PM CST, 3 hours 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 15, 10:07 PM CST, 3 hours 53 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, Union

When
March 16, 2:00 AM CST to 1:00 PM CST
Where
Union County, 1.47 mi SSW of Spink to 1.52 mi SW of Richland
Cause
Heavy Rain / Snow Melt
Reported by
River/Stream Gage
Coordinates
42.830, -96.740

Brule Creek near Richland rose above flood stage during the early morning of March 16th before cresting around 0.45 feet above flood stage (1124.45 feet) and then falling below flood stage during the afternoon hours of March 16th.

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, March 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: 1089201.