Blizza-cane: Minnesotans survive Black Hills Megastorm trapped in RV
They're calling it The Black Hills 'Megastorm.'
That's the term thrown out by the Rapid City, S.D., National Weather Service office to describe the second highest three-day snowfall total ever recorded in the Black Hills Region. 'Blizza-cane' might work too. The Black Hills are still digging out and melting out from as much as 4 feet of snow and near hurricane force winds last weekend.
The storm nearly buried the entrance to the Rapid City NWS.
The fresh heavy snow cover is clearly visible from space.
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Rapid City's 19 inches of snow Friday smashed the all time October record for the most snow in one day. The the 23.1 inch storm total smashed the previous snowfall record for the entire month of October.
An incredible 4 feet of snow came down near Deadwood, and many snowfall totals in the Black Hills exceeded 2 to 3 feet. Winds gusted to over 70 miles per hour making the blizzard like a combined blizzard-severe thunderstorm-near hurricane at times.
Here's the list of snowfall totals and wind reports from the Rapid City NWS.
The violent storm knocked out power, and NOAA Weather Radio signals and weather stations in the Black Hills. Here's the damage report from the Rapid City NWS.
Minnesotans ride out the storm in RV
Minnesota can thank our lucky weather stars we were on the warm side of the weekend storm. But some Minnesotans drove right into the heart of the storm, and rode out near hurricane force wind gusts and 3 to 4 feet of snow in an RV.
Linda Osburn of Garrison, Minnesota sent me word that her husband and friends rode out the intense storm in an RV in the Black Hills. Thankfully, they weathered the storm in good shape.
Paul
My husband Paul Hardenberg of Garrison, MN, and Dave and JoAnn Moe of Outing, MN have been hunkered down in an RV just south of Rapid City, SD since last Thursday night. They were luckier than most. The RV had a generator, and a propane heater. The electricity was out over most of Western SD.
They finally got out today for a Sunday Drive. They saw over 70 dead cows in just a little distance. This was part of a group of ~ 30.
This storm is going to take a long time to recover from.
Linda Osburn
P.S. I am no longer so upset about not being able to go on this trip to SD.
Linda sends along this photo of some of the numerous cattle who perished in the blizzard.
The snow is melting quickly as temperatures rise into the 50s and 60s in the Black Hills Region.
The snow may be gone soon, but the memories of the 'October Blizza-cane of 2013' will live on in the Black Hills.