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nesota brought widespread rain, freezing rain, and snow to central, north central, and northeast South Dakota. Much of the freezing fell across central and north central South Dakota west of the Missouri River. As the freezing rain changed over to snow and the winds increased, the ice and snow buildup on the power lines and poles caused hundreds of power poles to break across Jones, Stanley, Dewey, and Corson counties. East of the Missouri River, the colder air and stronger winds moved in changing the rain over to snow. Strong winds of 30 to 45 mph with gusts near 60 mph brought widespread blizzard conditions to all of the area. Ice buildup from the freezing rain ranged from a tenth to as much as an inch for counties west of the Missouri River. Snowfall amounts across the entire area generally ranged from 2 to 8 inches with a 15 inch amount recorded in southwest Corson County. Some of the snowfall amounts included; 3 inches in Eagle Butte, Blunt, Kennebec, Mission Ridge, and Onida; 4 inches in Pollock, Gettysburg, and Bowdle; 5 inches south of Harrold, Iona, and near McIntosh; 6 inches in Mobridge; 7 inches in Murdo; 8 inches in McLaughlin, and 15 inches southwest of Keldron. All 4,600 customers of the Moreau-Grand Electric Company lost power due to the storm. The last time this occurred was during the winter of 1967-68. The monetary loss to this cooperative and other electric cooperatives for Jones, Stanley, Corson, and Dewey counties was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. There were over 100 line workers working countless hours with crews coming as far away as Nebraska and Iowa to assist in the power recovery. Over 1,000 customers were without power for an extended period of time. Cell phone coverage was also knocked out for parts of the West River area due to downed towers. The blizzard resulted in numerous school, business, (Continued on page 12)
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