Overview and Impacts of the 3-4 October 2014 South Dakota Blizzard

On 3-4 October much of western South Dakota and adjacent states were hit by an early-season blizzard which brought as much as 30 inches of snow to the plains of South Dakota and nearly 60 inches in the northern Black Hills. Rainfall preceding the snow along with the snow dropped over 5 inches of liquid in the area. The combination with the wind and precipitation killed over 40,000 livestock and damaged a huge amount of public infrastructure.

Several aspects of this storm are worthy of review including the human and animal impact in the region, the overall severity of the system and early nature of the system. We will review the synoptic situation of the storm and forecast of the system. We will look at the overall changes in fall precipitation and precipitable water in the region. We will also review the various impacts of the system.