![]() By Friday evening, the freezing rain and sleet had changed over to all snow in the west, moving into the central part of the state by Saturday afternoon and into eastern North Dakota later that night. A deep surface low moved out of Colorado and into the state, with precipitation starting on Friday the 4th as rain in the eastern part of the state and freezing rain or sleet in the west. On April 2, 1997, President Bill Clinton even declared North Dakota a disaster area before the blizzard began.Ībnormally warm weather to start April that year had people thinking spring had arrived, according to the National Weather Service, much like this year. But it isn’t the first April blizzard our state has experienced.Ī little over 25 years ago, from April 4-7, 1997, a strong Colorado low brought the worst blizzard of the season for the state. Leading area communities included CoCoRahs sites near Burke, Emery and Stickney, which each had at least 46 inches or more, while sites near Pukwana and Fulton recorded at least 40 inches.What experts are already calling a potentially historic blizzard will consume North Dakota over the next few days - bringing anywhere from at least 12 to 30 inches of snow to our coverage area. South Dakota’s Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, or CoCoRaHs - which takes weather measurements from volunteers around the state - logged 20 sites with 40 inches of precipitation or more in 2019, including the state leader near Bison, with 54.38 inches recorded. The record remains 1944’s mark of 39.62 inches, and 2018 had the second-most precipitation on record in the town. In Menno, 2019 will rank third all-time after receiving 36.45 inches of precipitation. Wessington Springs had 39.04 inches of precipitation, which is second-most to 41.36 inches in 2010. The area communities of Wessington Springs and Menno were among the locations to narrowly miss setting a record. Rapid City also had its wettest year on record, logging 31.73 inches of precipitation, and the communities of Pierre, Watertown, Mobridge and Sisseton each had at least 29.5 inches of precipitation, which was at least 10 inches above normal in each location. The city’s two-year record is 63.76 inches, which was recorded in 19. Mitchell’s two-year precipitation total was 58.5 inches, or more than 15 inches above normal. Excluding the northwest corner of North Dakota, 14-day precipitation amounts have totaled 2 to 6 inches. Sioux Falls received 39.54 inches of water, topping the 2019’s record mark of 39.17 inches, and also broke the record for the most precipitation for any two-year span by more than 26 inches, as well. Recent rain and snow have boosted soil moisture in North Dakota for two straight weeks. Sioux Falls and Canton were among the South Dakota cities to set precipitation records in back-to-back years. Like Mitchell, Madison dealt with extensive flooding in mid-September. The annual record broken by the largest amount was in Madison, where 44.58 inches of precipitation fell, breaking the 1986 record by more than 8 inches. Records also went down in the Charles Mix County town of Academy (40.21 inches, breaking a 1982 record of 35.36 inches) and Gregory (40.68 inches, breaking a 1977 record of 37.48 inches). To the west in Forestburg, 40.48 inches of precipitation was recorded, breaking a 104-year-record dating back to 1914, snapping the old mark of 36.41 inches. In Howard, 43.23 inches of precipitation fell, breaking the 1942 record of 36 inches by more than 7 inches, according to NWS data. Prior to 2019, the average number of days per year with one-hundredth of an inch of precipitation in the decade was 86.9 days, according to records kept by The Daily Republic.Ī number of other area communities also snapped precipitation records in 2019, a year that has already been deemed the state’s wettest in 125 years of records, according to South Dakota State University Extension. Mitchell also had 117 days - or 32 percent of the days in the year - with at least one-hundredth of an inch of precipitation. Mitchell also got 15 inches of snow on April 11, which was a daily record for the city and added to a wet spring. 29-30, with the storm bringing 1.28 inches of precipitation over a three-day span.įor the year, Mitchell broke 13 different daily or monthly records related to snowfall or precipitation, including recording the wettest September on record when 7.63 inches of rain fell as the community dealt with debilitating flooding. The record was toppled thanks to a 15-inch snowfall in the final days of the year on Dec. 1, that Mitchell broke the single-year record for precipitation, logging 36.5 inches of water in 2019, edging out the 1993 record of 36.19 inches. The NWS office in Sioux Falls confirmed Wednesday, Jan. An unprecedented wet year in South Dakota came through in the year-end facts and figures, according to the National Weather Service, with numerous communities breaking precipitation records.
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