Mitchell gets 3.6 inches of snow, and more coming soon

• Shoveling snow

Larry Moeller shovels snow from in front of his house Friday afternoon on West Fifth Avenue in Mitchell. About 3 inches of snow fell in the city Thursday night and early Friday. (Chris Huber/Republic)

Talk about it

National Weather Service meteorologist Billy Williams said the week’s long-predicted snowstorm dumped more than 3.5 inches in the Mitchell area Thursday and early Friday.

The storm, which started late Thursday, dropped a total of 3.6 inches of snow, with 2.9 inches of that amount falling before midnight.

Areas south of Chamberlain picked up 2.8 inches of snow and the Presho area registered 1.7 inches. Higher snow totals fell east of the James River and points south.

Marion, for instance, had snowfall amounts of 7.8 inches, which was the official highest amount registered in South Dakota, said Williams, but informal reports from Turner County residents reported snowfall amounts of 9 inches in Parker.

Minnehaha County reported 6.1 inches of snow at the Sioux Falls airport, but there were also reliable reports of 7 inches in the immediate area.

More snow is on the way, too.

Williams said a weak Canadian weather system will push through the area with some light snows late Sunday and Monday. The weak weather front will probably bring no more than 1 inch of snow, he said.

Higher snowfall amounts were relegated to Iowa and Nebraska towns, he said.

“It doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing any big stuff for a while,” Williams said.

The snows kept city road crews busy.

Once more than 2 inches of snow accumulated in Mitchell the city declared a snow emergency, said Mitchell Police Division Assistant Chief Leon Baier.

In such cases vehicles parked along snow emergency routes that are not removed by their owners are ticketed and towed from those signed areas. Five illegally parked cars were towed early Friday morning and police were still busy ticketing illegally cars parked cars later in that day, Baier said.

At 8:30 a.m. Officer Ryan Titze said police began ticketing cars parked on east-west routes that were hampering snow removal operations.

“Police officers issued between 50 and 60 tickets, which is surprising given the amount of advance notice this storm received,” Titze said. City workers will be clearing north-south streets next, he said.

Police responded to seven minor accidents Friday as a result of the slick streets, Titze said, but none of the drivers involved in the accidents required hospitalization.

More information on the city’s snow removal policy and map of emergency snow routes may be found at: www.cityofmitchell.org. Check “snow alerts,” under the “Public Works” tab.

Tags: weather, news, updates, snow, winter, local, region, state