Big Cooldown On The Way... With Snow?

We're watching this next cooldown for next week with an extra-careful eye. Cody Matz talked about the big cooldown on the way for early next week in the post below - but look at this map below very carefully:

See all of those lines? Those are different "thicknesses" in the atmosphere that indicate regions of freezing or cooler temperatures. That's what we look at when forecasting snow... and they are over eastern South Dakota and Minnesota and even into northern Iowa by next Wednesday. That could mean some possible flurries by Wednesday - but don't worry, averages and records are on your side if you want snow to stay away.

We talked with some other meteorologists from the National Weather Service offices both in Sioux Falls and in Aberdeen, and here are some of the earliest stories of snowfall and reports we've come across:

One meteorologist in Aberdeen told me about September 23, 1984:

Snow fell from the early morning to the late evening hours across northwest South Dakota bringing more than a foot of snow to some locations. Camp Crook in Harding County reported 14 inches. Amounts between six and twelve inches were common across Harding and Perkins Counties as well as parts of Meade and Butte counties. Roads in these areas were slushy with icy bridges. The snow covered much of the western third of South Dakota with depths generally an inch or less.

While not quite stories farther to the South, here are some early snowfall dates and totals for the southern half of the viewing area:

1. Huron on 9/18/1924 got a trace of snowfall.
2. Sioux Falls on 9/18/1929 got a trace of snowfall
3. Sioux City on 9/25/1939 got a trace of snowfall
4. Brookings on 9/19/1991 got a trace of snowfall

Hopefully this doesn't happen. While I can't create my own weather conditions, I can only forecast them - you can rest assured I'll be sending all of my positive thoughts to keep any snow away until hopefully late November or even more preferably early December.

Have a good night!

~KDLT Chief Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer