The first winter storm of the season is causing slippery roads across much of the state. Kristi Sandal, the Public Information Officer for the South Dakota Department of Transportation says travelers should take extra time to get where they’re going.
Sandal says the northeast part of the state is seeing the largest accumulation of snow.
“A lot of snowpacked roads, slippery,” Sandal says. “There is quite a bit of wind in certain areas with this system as well, so that’s creating visibility issues especially in the wide open areas where that snow’s blowing across.”
Sandal says the western part of the state is seeing snow and ice, with some visibility issues west of Rapid City. She says there are no road closures or travel advisories, but people should slow down and be aware of changing road conditions.
A Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Aberdeen says snow totals have reached five to eight inches in some parts of South Dakota. Troy Kleffman says the northern third of the state is seeing the heaviest snowfall.
“Generally east of the Missouri River Valley although we did get a report in northern Corson of seven inches,” Kleffman says. “The snow continues though over quite a bit of this area especially from the James Valley and east toward the border with Minnesota. So we’re looking at additional accumulations over this region, probably the heaviest through today mainly up the I-29 corridor and the northeast part of the state.”
Kleffman says the snow will stop from west to east across the state through late this afternoon and tonight. He says some places in the northeast corner of South Dakota could see up to ten or 12 inches of snow in total.