Wednesday,  Jan. 01, 2014 • Vol. 16--No. 169 • 5 of 23

Today in Weather History

1960: The winter storm began on New Years Eve as a low pressure center moved from Colorado northeast to the Great Lakes. Snowfall ranged from 5 to 10 inches across central and northeast South Dakota. Strong winds on the 1st and 2nd caused low visibilities and drifted highways over affecting holiday travel. There were scattered power and telephone outages due to breakage from wind and ice. The storm winded down in the afternoon of the 2nd.

1976: An intense area of low pressure moved across the eastern part of the region spreading widespread snow across the entire state. The snow began on New Years Eve in the west and the spread east across the rest of the state on New Years Day. North winds increased to near 40 mph with gusts to 50 mph which created near blizzard conditions through New Years Day. Snowfalls ranged from 4 to 12 inches across the state with some reports of over 20 inches in the Black Hills. For several days after the storm, overnight lows ranged from 20 to 35 below over the state.

2011: A blizzard that started on New Year's Eve wound down during the morning hours of New Year's Day. Bitter cold northwest winds of 25 to 40 mph combined with additional snowfall of 6 to 10 inches brought visibilities to near zero across much of the region. This was the second blizzard in two days across the region. Both Interstates 29 and 90 were closed from December 31st until January 2nd. There were several stranded motorists along Highway 83 with five people being rescued. The total snowfall amounts from the two storms at the end of December into New Year's Day ranged from 6 to 15 inches across the region. The snowfall amounts included 6 inches at Eagle Butte; 7 inches at Doland; 8 inches at Mobridge and Gann Valley; 9 inches at Castlewood; 10 inches at Murdo, Clark, Ipswich, Kennebec, and Watertown and 11 inches at Clear Lake and Bryant. Locations with a foot or more of snow included 12 inches at Aberdeen, Gettysburg, Highmore, Milbank, Mission Ridge, and Bowdle; 13 inches at Eureka, Pierre, Onida, and Blunt; 14 inches at Mellette, Sisseton, Victor, and Roscoe with 15 inches at Britton, Webster, and Redfield. The snowfall began between 6 am and noon CST on the 31st and ended between 4 am and 11 am CST on January 1st.

1934: Heavy rain, which began on December 30, led to flooding in the Los Angeles Basin of California. Walls of water and debris up to ten feet high were noted in some canyon areas. Up to 16 inches of rain fell during the event, including more than 8 inches in downtown L.A.

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