STURGIS, S.D. – The Winter Storm that came with an interesting name is expected to move out overnight Saturday, but the snow it has left behind was enough to shut down most of the area.
In Sturgis, no travel was advised as crews worked mainly on keeping major arteries open. It wasn’t until Saturday night, plows were making their way into the residential areas.
Unofficially, snow totals in Sturgis were 16 to 17 inches with snow drifts exceeding several feet.
Out on the plains of Meade County, visibility was zero, and Highway 34 was shut down from Sturgis all the way to the county line.
Snow totals in some areas of rural Meade County were approaching 20 inches. A weather observer located 12 miles to the west of Hereford reported 19 inches.
Johnson Siding reported 17.1 inches of snow Saturday night and 19 inches of snow was reported at Piedmont. In downtown Rapid City, between 17 and 18 inches of snow was reported. As much as 20-plus inches of snow has been reported in Spearfish and over two feet of snow has been reported in the Lead area.
The blizzard shut down most roads, including I-90, which was still closed to Chamberlain as of Saturday night.
Along with Sturgis; Rapid City and Spearfish also issued no travel advisories, hoping to keep people off the streets so city crews could plow.
The Highway Patrol was busy handling a few accidents – including one on U.S. Highway 14A, between Sturgis and Deadwood that involved a downed power line and a cattle truck that turned over in Brule County. The truck accident killed two cows, but the driver was not seriously hurt. There was no information yet on the accident in Boulder Canyon.
Because it was so hard to get around – Rapid City cancelled the annual Festival of Lights Parade. Instead, the parade floats will line up at Rushmore Mall for viewing on December 8th.
