Weakened winter storm limps into state Thursday

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Like a guest late for a party, a winter storm snuck into the area long after it was expected Thursday, and was much quieter than the forecast had warned.

The storm, which had been forecast to possibly bring up to 7 inches of snow that would be tossed about by winds up to 30 mph, instead brought around 1.6 inches of snow to Mitchell as of 9 p.m. Thursday and almost no wind.

Snowfall was predicted to end before morning, although small skiffs of snow are possible all day.

Marc Chenard, a Sioux Falls-based meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said the powerful storm that had been predicted for five days just didn’t develop. Warmer-than-expected air didn’t allow snow to develop, so nothing fell to the ground Wednesday night, Thursday morning and most of Thursday afternoon.

In Mitchell, no snow was seen until around 5:30 p.m.

A Mitchell Public Safety dispatcher said there were no reports of accidents or snow-related trouble. She said officers and staffers were keeping an eye on the weather, but the predicted winter conditions just didn’t happen.

Joe Sheehan, another NWS forecaster, said most of the state was getting almost no wind and about 2 inches of snow, and some areas reported far less.

Snow could continue on and off today, he said, but nothing of any real significance is expected,

“Most of the snow is south of I-90,” Sheehan said. “We have heard higher reports by Winner.”

A.J. Wiley, a Winner police dispatcher, said 4 inches of snow had fallen in the town by 8 p.m., and more was coming down. But he said no accidents or other weather-related problems had been reported.

The highs for the next several days will be around 30, and even above freezing, as February, the final month of meteorological winter, comes to an apparently mild end.

“We’re still watching a system at end of the weekend into next week.” Chenard said.

“Best thing I can say is, there a chance we’ll see some snow, but the models are not agreeing on it yet.”

Tags: weather, news, updates, winter, snow, local, mitchell