Big snowfall anticipated in Mitchell area
NWS: 6-7 inches possible Wednesday night through Thursday for Mitchell.By: Tom Lawrence, The Daily Republic
- Wind-whipped flag
The powerful winds that pounded the area Monday were just an advance notice of another winter storm headed here this week.
The wind gained strength overnight Sunday-Monday and was consistently in the 30s and 40s mph range all Monday morning and afternoon, with a high gust of 46 mph recorded at 11:53 a.m., according to the National Weather Service’s Sioux Falls office.
There’s a “slight chance of snow” Tuesday afternoon, according to the NWS, but the clouds that will cover the sky as the day passes mainly will serve as another hint of the impending storm. Snow is expected to start late Wednesday night, with up to an inch falling Wednesday night and Thursday morning, according to the NWS.
As many as 6 inches of snow will drop Thursday, and it will be whipped about by an east wind that will gust up to 30 mph or higher, said Chris Jansen, an NWS meteorologist.
“It won’t reach blizzard level,” Jansen said. “But it’s going to snow. It will start Wednesday night and last all day Thursday. It should be out of here by the end of the day Thursday.”
Tom Kines, a senior meteorologist for AccuWeather.com, said the snow will last “several hours” on Thursday, and even if it is not classified officially as a blizzard, it will feel and look like one.
This week will also be colder than normal, according to both agencies. Temperatures will drop to around zero during the week, with a low of 3 below tonight. The wind chills will add to the misery.
It’s been a relatively mild winter, both the NWS and AccuWeather agreed, but that will change.
Kines said the pattern of winter storms coming out of the Rockies and passing through the center of the country, including South Dakota, will continue for the rest of the month.
“It’s not going to be spring just yet,” he said.
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