Wednesday,  Nov. 20, 2013 • Vol. 16--No. 127 • 12 of 35

Today in Weather History


1975:
A storm center located in Oklahoma on Tuesday, November 18th, moved northeastward across Kansas into Iowa and Wisconsin on Wednesday the 19th and Thursday the 20th. Light rain began in the eastern half South Dakota on the morning of the 19th. The rain changed to snow during the afternoon, and continued through the afternoon of the 20th. The winds increased and blizzard conditions were reached by 6pm CST on Wednesday the 19th. The snow was driven by sustained winds 40 to 50 miles per hour, gusting to 75 miles per hour on some occasions, which reduced visibility to less than one half mile. Heavy snow ranging from six to fifteen inches fell over an area southeast of a line from Todd to Aurora to Grant County. Traffic came to a standstill by Wednesday evening the 19th. The snow abruptly ended on the evening of the 20th, but winds diminished rather slowly that night. Storm total snowfalls included 9 inches at Clear Lake and 7 inches at Watertown.
1977: The second blizzard of the month began very early on Saturday, November 19th and continued through most of Sunday, November 20th. Wind speeds exceeding 50 mph caused much blowing and drifting snow. Visibilities were frequently reduced to near zero. Most of the roads in the northern and western parts of the state were blocked. Snowfall amounts north of Milbank and Pierre to Ardmore exceeded five inches. Most of the counties in the northwest and a large portion of those in the north central parts of the state reported snowfall amounts exceeding ten inches. Some drifts reached 4 to 5 feet. The greatest reported snowfall was 20 inches in Ea

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