severe weather

The sign for the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds, as pictured on Dec. 12, 2022, in Sioux Falls. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Severe weather becoming larger factor for concert-goers, fair director says

BY: - November 21, 2023

SIOUX FALLS — Insurance coverage allowed South Dakota’s most well-attended fair to avoid the sting of financial loss in 2023. Sioux Empire Fair Director Scott Wick told Minnehaha County commissioners on Tuesday that a severe weather shutdown on two separate days could have tanked the fair’s profitability, but a $313,000 insurance payout and strong attendance […]

An apartment complex on the Rosebud Reservation has drifts of snow blocking the doors and windows on Dec. 27, 2022. (Joshua Haiar/SD Searchlight)

SD school districts find compromise between snow days and online learning post-COVID

BY: - April 26, 2023

Whether they sleep with a spoon under their pillow or turn their pajamas inside out – two rituals purported to bring about a snow day – South Dakota students haven’t lost the magic of a serendipitous day off from school. And if school districts across the state have anything to say about it, they’ll always […]

People on the Cheyenne River Reservation receive first aid and CPR training through Partnerships With Native Americans. (Courtesy of PWNA)

‘Always in emergency mode’: Tribe partners with national groups on food security, disaster prep

BY: - April 24, 2023

About 90 inmates at the Roberts County Jail in northeastern South Dakota didn’t have food in mid-December this winter. The jail relies on weekly truck deliveries from over 50 miles away, but back-to-back blizzards dropped roughly 18 inches of snow on the region, closed the interstate and left kitchen staff stranded in their homes. “Any […]

An apartment complex on the Rosebud Reservation has drifts of snow blocking the doors and windows on Dec. 27, 2022. (Joshua Haiar/SD Searchlight)

Disaster declarations for tribes land as two-part storm looms

BY: - February 21, 2023

President Joe Biden declared major disasters for two tribal communities in South Dakota on Tuesday for a pair of deadly December storms.  News of the declarations for the Rosebud and Oglala Sioux tribes arrived as snowflakes began to fall in the first of two more winter storms expected to blanket the state. This week’s storms […]

Wind turbines in Schlewswig, Iowa. (Photo by Christopher A. Jones/Getty Images)

How did renewables fare during Winter Storm Elliott

BY: - January 27, 2023

A day after Christmas, as parts of the country were still digging out from Winter Storm Elliott, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, undeterred by the absence of much concrete data, already knew where to cast the blame for rolling blackouts implemented in parts of the South to keep the grid from collapsing.  “While there […]

South Dakota Department of Transportation workers remove an Interstate 90 sign near Salem that was warped and damaged by the May 2022 derecho.

Spring 2022 derecho cost $2.8 billion, NOAA says. Some damage won’t be fixed until 2024.

BY: - January 17, 2023

Crews are still working to clean up damage months after the May 2022 derecho, which swept a roughly 100-mile-wide wall of dust and winds over 100 mph across South Dakota. The derecho damage has a multi-state price tag of $2.8 billion, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information’s newly updated list of billion-dollar disaster […]