From March 15 through the early hours of March 16, a low-pressure system rapidly intensified over the Central Plains, generating a powerful wind field with gusts reaching 45 to 65 mph. Although limited antecedent snow cover maxing out at 1 to 2 inches in parts of the James River Valley initially delayed widespread blowing snow, conditions deteriorated as precipitation intensified early on the…
Every event with a place to put it; 28 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
From March 15 through the early hours of March 16, a low-pressure system rapidly intensified over the Central Plains, generating a powerful wind field with gusts reaching 45 to 65 mph. Although limited antecedent snow cover maxing out at 1 to 2 inches in parts of the James River Valley initially delayed widespread blowing snow, conditions deteriorated as precipitation intensified early on the 15th. In northwest Iowa, the storm began with several hours of freezing rain, resulting in ice accumulations of one-tenth to one-third of an inch. Additionally, plummeting temperatures created hazardous wind chills ranging from 15 below to 30 below zero.
Transportation was severely disrupted, leading to the closure of the Sioux Falls Regional Airport and most state and federal highways north of Interstate 90; travel was discouraged in nearly all other areas.
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, 12:47 AM CST, 3 hours 13 minutes earlier.
<!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 National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD 304 AM CDT Sun Mar 15 2026 IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097- 098-NEZ013-014-SDZ038>040-050-052>071-160815- Lyon-Osceola-Dickinson-Sioux-O'Brien-Clay-Plymouth-Cherokee- Buena Vista-Woodbury-Ida-Lincoln-Murray-Cottonwood-Nobles-Jackson- Pipestone-Rock-Dixon-Dakota-Beadle-Kingsbury-Brookings-Gregory- Jerauld-Sanborn-Miner-Lake-Moody-Brule-Aurora-Davison-Hanson- McCook-Minnehaha-Charles Mix-Douglas-Hutchinson-Turner-Bon Homme- Yankton-Union- 304 AM CDT Sun Mar 15 2026 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of northwest Iowa, west central Iowa, southwest Minnesota, northeast Nebraska, central South Dakota, east central South Dakota, south central South Dakota, and southeast South Dakota. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Any freezing rain early this morning will transition to all snow by daybreak. A glaze to two tenths of an inch of ice is possible mainly in parts of northwest Iowa, and this could result in increased risk for power outages and tree damage as winds pick up through today. Blizzard conditions are expected area-wide as winds gust up to 55 mph in moderate to locally heavy snow. Locations south of I-90 will gust up to 60 mph at times through today. Winds remain elevated tonight, leading to continued blowing/drifting concerns and reduced visibilities. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday Very cold wind chills in the negative teens to negative 20s are expected Monday morning. Wind chills may stay below zero through the day on Monday for many areas. Tuesday morning will feature wind chills in the negative single digits to negative teens, with milder conditions by Tuesday afternoon. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
24 blizzard, 4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 53 mph near Plankinton and 44 mph at White Lake. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 5.0 inches 4 miles southwest of Stickney and 3.4 inches at White Lake, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 59 mph at Huron and 50 mph 7 miles southwest of Carpenter. During and after a period of heavy snowfall which totaled 6.3 inches at Huron, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted up to 48 mph at Lane and 38 mph near Wessington Springs. Snowfall totaled 5.0 inches at Wessington Springs, with areas of blowing snow reducing visibility to around one-half mile at times.
Northerly winds gusted up to 53 mph at Kimball and 48 mph 3 miles north-northwest of Academy. Snowfall totaled 6.5 inches 8 miles south-southwest of Chamberlain and 6.0 inches at Chamberlain, with areas of blowing snow reducing visibility to around one-half mile at times.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 53 mph 10 miles west of Platte and 3 miles west of Geddes, and 51 mph 5 miles east of Wagner. During and after a period of heavy snowfall which totaled 7.3 inches near Academy, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 47 mph at Mitchell and Mount Vernon. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 4.4 inches at Mitchell, and 3.3 inches 5 miles west-southwest of Ethan, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 52 mph near Corsica and 42 mph at Armour. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 1.4 inches 10 miles west of Dimock, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 52 mph 4 miles south of Arlington and 47 mph 7 miles north of De Smet. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 5.3 inches at De Smet, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 46 mph at Brookings and Volga and 44 mph at White. During and after a period of heavy snowfall which totaled 7.1 inches 2 miles south-southeast of Astoria, 6.0 inches 2 miles south of Brookings, and 5.1 inches at Aurora, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow. Interstate 29 was closed for a period during the worst blizzard conditions.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 54 mph 5 miles east-southeast of Tyndall and 50 mph near Avon. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 2.2 inches at Tyndall and 2.0 inches 8 miles west-southwest of Springfield, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 51 mph 4 miles south of Freeman, Tripp, and 7 miles east-southeast of Menno. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 4.0 inches at Parkston and 3.0 inches at Menno, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 52 mph near Alexandria. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 4.4 inches at Mitchell, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 48 mph 8 miles east of Alpena and near Forestburg, and 44 mph 4 miles north-northwest of Woonsocket. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 4.7 inches at Woonsocket and 4.1 inches at Letcher, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 56 mph 3 miles east-southeast of Parker and 51 mph 4 miles east of Irene and 7 miles north-northeast of Parker. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 4.3 inches at Marion, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 55 mph near Montrose and 4 miles north of Dolton. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 5.5 inches at Montrose and 3.8 inches 5 miles northeast of Salem, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 59 mph near Dell Rapids and 54 mph at Sioux Falls. During and after a period of heavy snowfall which totaled 7.6 inches 4 miles northwest of Renner and 6.2 inches at Colton, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow. Interstate 29 north of Sioux Falls was closed for a period during the worst blizzard conditions. Whiteout conditions resulted in a rear-end collision with a State Patrol vehicle 1 mile west of Hartford.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 53 mph at North Sioux City. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 1.6 inches near Jefferson and 1.0 inches 10 miles north-northeast of Elk Point, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 54 mph 7 miles east of Davis. During and after a period of heavy snowfall which totaled 6.5 inches at Canton and 4.2 inches at Harrisburg, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 47 mph 3 miles east of Carthage and 46 mph near Howard. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 4.0 inches at Howard, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 54 mph at Madison and 50 mph 6 miles south of Madison. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 6.1 inches at Madison, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 59 mph at Fort Randall Dam, 50 mph at Dallas, and 48 mph 2 miles east of Dixon. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 4.5 inches 11 miles south-southeast of Burke and 8 miles north of Gregory, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Winds briefly gusted as high as 59 mph at the Automated Surface Observing System site at Huron.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 55 mph 8 miles north of Yankton, 53 mph near Gayville, and 48 mph at Yankton. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 3.0 at Yankton, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 50 mph 7 miles west-southwest of Beresford and 49 mph at Vermillion. During and after a period of snowfall which totaled 2.5 inches at Vermillion and 1.5 inches 6 miles southeast of Centerville, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow.
Northerly winds gusted as high as 51 mph 3 miles north-northeast of Flandreau. During and after a period of snow all which totaled 5.1 inches at Flandreau, visibility was reduced to one-quarter mile or less at times with blowing snow. Interstate 29 was closed for a period during the worst blizzard conditions.
Winds gusted as high as 59 mph at the South Dakota Road Weather Information System site near Dell Rapids.
Winds were sustained at 40 mph at times for several hours at the South Dakota Road Weather Information System site 10 miles north of Yankton and the Automated Weather Observing System site at Yankton.
Winds gusted as high as 59 mph at the South Dakota Road Weather Information System site at Fort Randall Dam.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Dakota in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, March 2026
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: 1327966, 1327995, 1329135, 1329136, 1327971, 1327969, 1327970, 1327992, 1327994, 1327972, 1327973, 1327974, 1327996, 1327978, 1327984, 1327986, 1327979, 1327981, 1327988, 1327989, 1327999, 1328004, 1327976, 1327977, 1327990, 1328003, 1328002, 1328001.