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Heavy Rainfall Across the Southwest, Mid-Atlantic and Florida; Fire Weather Concerns in the Northwest and Alaska

Heavy to excessive rainfall may bring flooding to parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia today. Recently burned areas will be particularly vulnerable to flash flooding. Gusty winds and low humidity will bring elevated to critical fire weather conditions to parts of the Northwest U.S. and central Alaska today. Read More >

Overview

On December 1-2, 2018, moderate to heavy snow fell over portions of northeast Wyoming and western South Dakota. The heaviest snow fell in Colome, SD where 15" was estimated. A band of 8-12" fell over south central South Dakota near the Nebraska border. A pocket of 8-10" fell over the higher Black Hills.

The precipitation started out as rain over south central South Dakota late on November 30 and then progressed westward and turned to snow. The snow ended Sunday morning December 2.

Records

Several new daily snowfall and precipitation records were set on December 1, 2018 for Downtown Rapid City and the Rapid City Airport.

Downtown Rapid City

  • 6.7" of snow is a new record daily maximum snowfall for December 1. It breaks the old record of 4.3" set in 2015.
  • 6.7" of snow is also the 4th Highest Daily Snowfall in the month of December. The highest December one-day snowfall was set December 5, 1906 when 9.0" of snow fell.
  • 0.57" of precipitation is a new record daily maximum precipitation total for December 1. The old record was 0.28" set in 1968.

Rapid City Airport

  • 6.2" of snow is a new record daily maximum snowfall for December 1. It breaks the old record of 4.2" set in 1980.
  • 6.2" of snow is also the 3rd Highest Daily Snowfall in the month of December. The highest December one-day snowfall was set December 31, 1975 when 9.8" of snow fell.
  • 0.52" of precipitation is a new record daily maximum precipitation total for December 1. The old record was 0.28" set in 1980.
Image
Box Elder, SD
Courtesy Chevy F.
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