Jan 27-28 Blizzard and Jan 30-31 Extreme Cold 2019 Summary

Low temperature the morning of January 30th in Pollock, SD    (Photo courtesy of Donna Meyer)

A summary of the event as it unfolded at Mina Lake from a NWS employee: 

Sunday began cold with a low temp of 0.0° F at 3:30 am, and then stayed cold, climbing only to 15° by 3:30 pm. Meanwhile southeast winds were relatively light through the day, gusting to less than 20 mph, and light to moderate (heavier pockets) snow was falling. Beginning after 6 am and ending before 8pm, 2.7” of snow with 0.2” liquid equivalent had accumulated in a more-or-less uniform layer outside.

While temperatures had rising throughout the day, they rose significantly with a narrow warm surge by Sunday evening. At 8 pm, the temperature was 25.9°. Half an hour later, it was 38.7° outside, and the high temperature of 39° was reached by 9 pm. This, as winds were shifting to the west and increasing in speed – gust of 45.2 mph at 9 pm. 39°, by the way, was the warmest it had been since 10 pm on January 7th.

Pressure had been dropping since midnight (started at 1019 mb) as the intense Alberta Clipper approached, and a low of 994.6 mb was reached at 8 pm. After the visible-on-radar arctic front had passed by 9:30pm, pressure began to sharply increase at a rate of 2.9mb per hour from 9:30pm to 3:30am (17.6mb rise over these 6 hours). Winds increased significantly, shifting to the northwest. Once gusts surpassed 50 mph, dozens of snow rollers spontaneously developed in the new, now sticky snow! It was around 9:20 pm.

The ground blizzard had an amazingly sudden onset. Absolutely no visibility reductions and starry skies were observed at 9:15 pm, but in less than half an hour, the bright restaurant lights just a quarter mile away from my location had disappeared. The neighbor’s property light was about 200 feet/0.05 miles away. When standing next to a property light, non-luminous objects of over about 70 feet away were not visible. Sustained winds surpassed 40 mph and/or gusted to over 60 mph from about 9:30 pm to 12:30 am, and a peak gust of 65.8 mph was recorded at 10:55 pm.

Temperatures dropped swiftly and significantly during this time as well, from 39° at 9 pm to 16° at 10 pm to 6.4° by midnight. Taking into account wind chill, a 62° change was measured in 4.5 hours (39° at 9pm, -23° wind chill at 1:30 am). While blowing snow continued after, the blizzard subsided early Monday morning. However, Arctic air remained. Monday’s low was 1.2° at 4:00 am, and the day’s high didn’t climb out of the teens.

While less significant in both the conditions and, obviously, the impacts, it’s difficult not to spot parallels between this event and the Children’s Blizzard of Jan 12, 1888. Interestingly, if this event had shifted 10 hours earlier, this event’s relatively mild ~20° air would have been in place around 7:45 am, as parents would be sending their kids off to school. Additionally, this event’s blizzard would have then begun around 11:45 am.

Even in this day-and-age with much improved warnings and shelter, it's still important not to lose respect for the power of Mother Nature. Heed warnings, and avoid putting yourself in a situation you may later regret.  

2.7" of snowfall at Mina Lake prior to the high winds	Significantly reduced visibility to around an eighth of a mile around 10 pm at Mina Lake	Observed temperatures and wind chills over the course of the evening at Mina Lake