Wind, cold, ice contribute to weekend accidents

• Ice sheet

Jay Ward uses his heel to break free ice from the sidewalk on Wisconsin Street in Mitchell Saturday morning. Rain Friday followed by freezing temperatures blanketed the area in thin sheet of ice. (Chris Huber/Republic)

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Winds, cold temperatures and icy conditions contributed to some minor accidents this weekend as a slow moving winter storm blew into the area.

Drizzle Friday began to freeze as temperatures dipped throughout the afternoon causing slick conditions on roadways.

Sheriffs in multiple counties in the region reported slick roads caused some vehicles to slip into the ditch but none reported any major accidents. Most said road conditions improved as the weekend continued with the worst reports coming Friday night.

“We had a few cars in the ditch on Friday night; I think I responded to three,” said Greg Nelson, deputy sheriff for Hanson County. “As the weekend went on the roads cleared up a lot.”

Further to the west, in Brule County, Sherriff’s Deputy Jerry Herbst said roads were in better condition than what most people would expect.

“It seemed like the driving lane was in great shape for the most part, the passing lane had a few slick spots but it wasn’t bad,” he said. “I think the DOT (Department of Transportation) did a great job salting and scraping the roads after the rain Friday.”

The ice wasn’t the only factor in this storm. A strong northwest wind, gusting to 45 mph at times, brought wind chills below negative 10 degrees on Saturday and Sunday in Mitchell.

While this area saw only a little snow, as much as 6 inches was reported in some parts of the Black Hills Friday and Saturday.

Mitchell received some precipitation for this storm but it isn’t likely to help the region’s dry conditions. On Thursday 0.01 inches of precipitation fell but only trace amounts were recorded on Friday and Saturday.

Temperatures are expected to rise during the start of the week. The warming trend begins today with a high of 18 degrees, Tuesday’s high is forecast at 28 degrees and Wednesday is expected to reach 41 degrees.

Tags: weather, news, updates, winter, snow, ice, wind