South Dakota Under Snow (Lead, Deadwood: home, living, safe)
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Just curious as I've been considering South Dakota as a place to live. When y'all get buried under three feet or more of snow, how is that generally handled by people and by the city? Is it dealt with quickly? When I used to live in Ohio the snow plows would come fairly regularly, but oftentimes it was up to everybody to help keep the street clear as it accumulated throughout the day.
More specifically, if one were to live a good thirty minutes to an hour outside of town/work and had to miss hours or multiple days of work each year digging themselves out, should they be worried about their job security? Do people get fired for things like that?
As an aside, how commonplace is accumulation like this up there?
I would think a snowfall of "3 feet or more" at one time would be incredibly rare in South Dakota, except maybe in Lead or Deadwood. And the possibility of a long commute really depends completely on where you live.
On the east side of the state, I-29 is kept pretty clear most of the time. Today, when we had blizzard conditions in SE SD, the DOT recommended no travel for about a 12 hr. period. That might happen once or twice a year?? And if you work for an employer that doesn't understand that your life is more important than any work that needs to be done, then you shouldn't work for that employer. I've been reading on Facebook that both Avera and Sanford, the two major hospital systems, provide safe places to sleep for their employees who need to be at work during blizzard conditions so they don't have to drive to or from home in poor road conditions. Some other major employers are said to do this, too.
Someone else is going to have to chime in about West River and snow.
That video looks more like lake effect snow in Wisc or Michigan. West River is a much drier climate so the wet stuff is rare. If we get a storm out of the south west, it will usually carry more moisture. Those storms normally occur in late winter or early spring and generally melt off soon, however, we just got one. Most winter storms come out of the northwest and have little moisture. The larger threat from them is blowing snow that can limit your visibility and can make large drifts in inconveniant places.
Just curious as I've been considering South Dakota as a place to live. When y'all get buried under three feet or more of snow, how is that generally handled by people and by the city? Is it dealt with quickly? When I used to live in Ohio the snow plows would come fairly regularly, but oftentimes it was up to everybody to help keep the street clear as it accumulated throughout the day.
More specifically, if one were to live a good thirty minutes to an hour outside of town/work and had to miss hours or multiple days of work each year digging themselves out, should they be worried about their job security? Do people get fired for things like that?
As an aside, how commonplace is accumulation like this up there?
Legitimately not trolling here, I’ve just never lived in South Dakota, but I’m genuinely considering it as a possibility. In searching for information about it, this is a commonly brought up concern. I don’t know where the images in that video came from, but it’s not like I had any reason to doubt it, especially after what I’ve seen others say about the weather in that region. I grew up in northeast Ohio and the winters could get pretty bad, and it seems like South Dakota has it worse, so the video seemed plausible. And my wife has only ever lived in Texas, so she’s especially concerned about it as she’s never dealt with that kind of weather.
Thanks to everyone who replied and provided me with quality info, though.
When you're thinking of visiting or moving to South Dakota it really makes a difference whether you are interested in the part of the state east of the Missouri River (known as East River) or the area west of the Missouri (West River.) The two parts of the state have very different weather patterns and road usage and even somewhat different economies.
So when you want to know more info about SD, make sure to be specific about which part of the state interests you! And if you want to know about both sides of the state, let us know that too. There aren't too many of us from SD posting on CD now, but we do try to be helpful.
And glad you're thinking about SD! It's a great place to visit and to live.
When you're thinking of visiting or moving to South Dakota it really makes a difference whether you are interested in the part of the state east of the Missouri River (known as East River) or the area west of the Missouri (West River.) The two parts of the state have very different weather patterns and road usage and even somewhat different economies.
So when you want to know more info about SD, make sure to be specific about which part of the state interests you! And if you want to know about both sides of the state, let us know that too. There aren't too many of us from SD posting on CD now, but we do try to be helpful.
And glad you're thinking about SD! It's a great place to visit and to live.
Thanks for the information. I was leaning more towards living on the Eastern side, but I do think it would be best to get to know both sides (since we're open to either as a possibility), so I'm ok with whatever anyone has to say about either side as long as they say which side they're talking about, lol.
I live East River. When it comes to snow here, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I used to live in MN and IA and grew up in IN. The snow is much worse in MN than in SD, and about the same here as in IA and IN. Since you live in OH now, I doubt if the snow in East River SD will be much different from where you are now. There are some bad days but mostly it's not that big a deal.
The Black Hills get more snow depth. The mountain towns of Lead and Deadwood are known for the high amount of snow they get.
It IS more windy here than I've ever experienced before. Blowing snow in flat areas can cause icy road conditions. Blizzards are when you can't see far due to a lot of blowing snow. So that aspect is worse than where you are now, probably.
It's always useful to remember that West River is arid, while East River is humid. Summers in the two regions feel profoundly different. It seems to be windy on both sides of the river; worse where the land is flat.
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