The meteorological winter (December through February 2015-16) across central and northeast South Dakota was very warm with near to above normal precipitation. With the strong El Nino occurring in the southern Pacific, the forecast of above normal temperatures panned out very well across the region. In fact, most locations had one their top fifteen warmest winters on record. The average temperatures for the December through February time period ranged from 3 to nearly 8 degrees above normal. Mobridge had their sixth warmest winter on record while Aberdeen had their seventh warmest winter on record. Watertown and Sisseton had their tenth warmest December through February periods on record. Timber Lake came with the eleventh warmest winter on record with Pierre finishing in 12th place.

The precipitation for this El Nino winter was near to above normal with the December through February   amounts ranging from 1.33 inches at Aberdeen to 2.24 inches as Sisseton.  These amounts were from about a quarter inch below to an inch above normal.  The snowfall so far this season since October 1^st ranged from 18 to 35 inches or from 9 inches below to 10 inches above normal through the end of February.

Below are observations and departures for average temperature and snowfall during the cumulative meteorological winter. Courtesy of the Midwestern Regional Climate Center.

Below is an accumulation graph of snowfall during the season so far, for Aberdeen, Pierre, Watertown, Sisseton, and Mobridge.

Below is categorical rankings of this winter season, based on the Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index (AWSSI). Aberdeen ranked as a "Mild" winter and Pierre a "Moderate" winter. Courtesy of the Midwestern Regional Climate Center (https://mrcc.isws.illinois.edu/research/awssi/indexAwssi.jsp)

Here's another way of looking at the 2015-2016 winter. Graphed is the total snowfall and average temperature over the December to February timeframe for Aberdeen, Pierre, and Watertown for this year and recent years (for comparison).

Finally, below are all South Dakota daily temperature records broken or tied during the winter months. Total high maximum records for the winter is 88 (compared to 6 record min lows, not shown). Total high minimum records for the winter is 135 (compared to 2 record min highs, not shown). A couple monthly warm records were broken as well (not shown). Data from www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/datatools/records