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Extreme Heat and Tropical Storm Bertha Impacts

Dangerous heat will expand from the Gulf Coast into the Southern Plains and Desert Southwest through week's end. Additional extreme heat impacting the Pacific Northwest will shift to the northern Plains by the weekend. Tropical Storm Bertha is expected to continue to impact portions of the northern Gulf Coast from the western Florida Panhandle to southeastern Louisiana through tonight. Read More >

Overview

A powerful low-pressure system slowly moved across the central plains on December 25-26, 2023. Plentiful moisture wrapped around the low into western SD, bringing heavy snow to parts of our area. The highest amounts were in the northern Black Hills, where over a foot of snow fell. A tight pressure gradient resulted in very strong winds on the western SD plains, with gusts of 50-60 mph creating blizzard conditions along with much blowing and drifting snow. The highest wind gust was 72 mph at the Rapid City Airport. As warm air filtered into the region behind the low, snow changed to freezing rain, which caused some icing across parts of northwestern SD. Much of Interstate 90 was closed for about 12 hours, and even afterwards, no travel was advised, especially in the northern Black Hills.

Make sure you click on the Radar and Satellite tab below. Check out the water vapor loop, which gives perspective on how much area the storm covered across the United States.

 

Blizzard in New Underwood, SD
New Underwood, SD
Courtesy Amy Hakola
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