It's still technically fall, but winter has arrived in Sotuh Dakota. Weather experts says this week’s cold temperatures are sticking around. In areas hardest hit by a winter storm Monday, South Dakota communities are dealing with 10 inches of snow and freezing temps. The blast of winter weather is somewhat unusual for mid-November, but the forecast isn’t changing any time soon.
College student Ben Gertner walks across the University of Sioux Falls campus hunched over. He can barely catch his breath in the cold. Gertner grew up in South Dakota but says that doesn’t make suddenly enduring temperatures in the teens any easier.
"I can maybe last, like, 30 seconds in the cold, and then my body just, like, freezes up, and I walk kind of like I’m 80 years old," Gertner says.
The temperatures across South Dakota are well below freezing. Ryan Lueck with the National Weather Service in Aberdeen says winter storms are possible in November, but that’s not typically how the first snowfall hits the state – and they’re not often followed by such frigid temperatures.
"The temperatures have already dipped down into the low teens widespread across South Dakota, and that’s going to pretty much be the case moving forward. It’ll get even colder as we move forward through the next several days," Lueck says. "Our coldest night we can expect on Thursday, when we could see low single-digit temperatures across much of the state with wind chills well below zero."
Lueck says temperatures may rise some, but they will still remain well below normal.
That news is prompting college student Ben Gertner to find his own way to cope with the cold.
"I’ll definitely be holed up in my room watching Netflix and drinking coffee, so that’ll be my weekend," Gertner says.
The National Weather Service says some lighter snowfall is possible across the state.