South Dakota’s Windstorm Left Trash Cans Flying—and Records Broken

Holy smokes! How many of your neighbors' trash cans did you wake up to in your yard on Friday morning? The South Dakota winds really earned its reputation Thursday (December 18).

What started as a reasonably warm day was quickly taken over by car-shaking wind and blinding ground blizzards. We had winds gusting to 60 MPH or more across South Dakota.

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How Strong Were the Winds in Sioux Falls?

According to the great folks at the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, the Sioux Empire came out of the windstorm relatively lucky. The highest reported wind gust in Sioux Falls on Thursday was 59 MPH. Brookings was in the same boat with a 58 MPH wind gust.

Out west, it was a bit windier. Winds gusting into the 60s MPH were reported around Mitchell. A 70 MPH wind was reported near Huron. The same was reported in Bon Homme. West of Chamberlain, winds nearing 80 MPH were reported.

The entire event was the result of a rapidly moving Arctic front sweeping across the US. While we got the wind, areas in the northeast US got a winter storm.

Record-Breaking Winds in Rapid City

And eastern South Dakota didn't even get the worst of the wind. Thursday morning, our friends in Rapid City reported a wind of 101 MPH four miles south of downtown, according to KOTA News! A record-breaking 94 MPH wind was recorded at the Rapid City airport, too. The wind also knocked out power and caused damage in the Rapid City area.

The wind was even worse west of the Black Hills in Wyoming. Roads were closed as the wind brought white-outs and blew over semis. Wind blowing 144 MPH was recorded on Thursday near Mount Coffin on Wyoming's west side.