SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- Interstate 90 is shut down from Rapid City to Sioux Falls.
Interstate 29 is now closed from Sioux Falls to the North Dakota border.
(Updated 9:14 p.m. 4/13/18)
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BROOKINGS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- State officials say that Interstate 90 is now closed from Rapid City to Mitchell, as this "beast" of a storm steadily roars across South Dakota.
Officials say that Interstate 29 is closed from Brookings to the North Dakota line.
(Updated 5:00 p.m. 4/13/18)
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- Sioux Falls Regional Airport will shut down Friday evening until Saturday at 7 p.m. because of the approaching blizzard.
Manager Dan Letellier says the runways will not be safe.
"Visibility is really a concern and even if we were not closing, visibility would be so poor that no flights would be operating anyways."
Closing the airport is rare, especially at this time of year, but not unprecedented. No one is more frustrated than Letellier. He says he was planning to fly to San Diego Saturday morning, but not now.
If you had tickets for flights Friday evening through Saturday, call your airline.
(Updated at 3:30 p.m. 4/13/18)
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- Mayor Mike Huether declared that what's coming will be a beast of a storm.
"In ways we haven't seen in a long, long time, in terms of when it comes to snow and wind combining to create one heck of a beast." warned Mayor Huether at an extraordinary joint news conference Friday attended by the police chief, fire chief, and streets chief.
Huether said that the city's top goal will be protecting the citizens. He asked everyone to stay home on Saturday, enjoy family and friends - like we did in the old days, as the mayor put it. He also mentioned that this storm comes around the 5-year anniversary of the Sioux Falls ice storm.
Streets Chief Galynn Huber warned that at the height of the storm, snow could be coming down at the rate of two inches an hour.
"You'll have a snow plow that goes past on a street and within ten minutes you won't even know that we went by it, if it's snowing at two inches an hour." Huber promised that his crews will be working 12-hour shifts through to Monday.
(Updated at 3:00 p.m. 4/13/18)
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YANKTON, S.D. (KELO.com) -- Areas seeing rain now will be seeing snow later today into this evening.
Todd Heitkamp at the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls says some strong thunderstorms are popping up in eastern South Dakota.
Heitkamp says strong gusty winds will follow along with the heavy snow.
Blizzard warnings will be in effect from this evening through tomorrow night for much of the region.
(Jerry Oster, WNAX, contributed this report. Updated at 12:40 p.m., 4/13/18.)
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- The City of Sioux Falls has issued a news release about closings and other safety information in light of the impending winter storm.
The release is below:
Sioux Falls, South Dakota: Sioux Falls will experience inclement weather starting tonight, and the most dangerous conditions will be experienced on Saturday, April 14, 2018. Heavy snowfall combined with high winds will create low visibility and slippery roads. In an effort to keep the public safe, a number of cancellations and closings will take place. Here is what the public needs to know.* Plows will focus only on emergency snow routes until after the storm has passed.* Sioux Area Metro buses will run only on emergency snow routes on Saturday, April 14. Buses may be running behind, and bus services could cease entirely if roads become impassible.* A no travel advisory is very possible and will be determined after street and visibility conditions are evaluated.* The Sioux Falls Regional Sanitary Landfill will be closed on Saturday, April 14.* The Midco(r) Aquatic Center will be closed on Saturday, April 14. Saturday's scheduled swimming lessons are cancelled.* All 13 branches of Siouxland Libraries will be closed on Saturday, April 14. Saturday's scheduled activities are cancelled.* The Household Hazardous Waste Facility and Reuse Room will be closed on Saturday, April 14.* Next week's Project NICE/KEEP for targeted neighborhoods will be delayed until Tuesday, April 17. Residents in the selected neighborhoods are asked to not place their discarded items at the curbside until Sunday afternoon."Please be weather aware as we enter the weekend. If you do not have to travel on Saturday, please stay home. Do not risk your family's safety or the safety of others for unnecessary travel," says Police Chief Matt Burns.Follow @CitySiouxFalls, @SiouxFallsPD, and @SiouxFallsFire on Twitter for the latest updates.
(Updated 12:30 p.m., 4/13/18.)
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- Sioux Valley Electric posted a message on their Facebook page with additional information about the outage in Rock, Minnehaha, and Brookings Counties.
- Rock County MN Outage Update: 60-70 poles are down on the transmission line from I-90 at the Magnolia Exit. The towns of Magnolia, Kanarazni, Hills, Beaver Creek, Steen, Ash Creek, Ellsworth and Lester are out of power, along with rural areas. Approximately 770 Sioux Valley Energy members are out of power. We are working to "back-feed" power to as many members as possible to get power on. Unfortunately, the town of Magnolia will be out until the line is rebuilt. Sioux Valley has requested help from additional crews. We will try to keep you updated as much as possible as our crews work through the day to restore power.
(Updated 11:50 a.m., 4/13/18.)
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- The winter storm is causing a power outage for some Sioux Valley Electric customers in the area.
The cooperative reports that approximately 25 percent of its customers in Rock County Minnesota are without power.
There are some smaller outages in Minnehaha and Brookings Counties in South Dakota.
(Updated at 11:15 a.m., 4/13/18.)
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- The KELO Radio listening area will be under a Blizzard Warning from 7 p.m. tonight until 7 p.m. tomorrow.
Here's the National Weather Service's official forecast for the metro area:
Blizzard conditions expected. Rain will change to snow Friday evening. Winds gusting as high as 50 mph will cause whiteout conditions in blowing snow. Significant drifting of the snow is likely. Total snow accumulations of 10 to 15 inches, with localized amounts up to 18 inches, are expected.
The NWS says that travel will be difficult to impossible. They also say that "tree branches could fall."
(Updated 9:10 a.m. 4/13/18.)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- Just after 7 a.m., Sioux Falls was hit with heavy amounts of hail. Todd Heitkamp from the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls said they measure hail as snow amounts, so the snow totals have already begun.
Sioux Falls received about 0.2 inches of dime-sized hail this morning. The downpour lasted about five minutes.
"There's a potential for more of that this morning," Heitkamp said. "But it's more likely we'll start seeing that moisture turn to snow later on."
(Story updated at 7:30 am, 4/13/18)
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- It's raining for now, but big snow totals are still headed our way.
Matt Dux of the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls says the rain will be changing over to snow around 7pm this evening. Sioux Falls will get anywhere from 8-12 inches of snow tomorrow, with some areas expected to see up to 18 inches.
"It's going to be wet all day, but that rain will eventually change to snow," Dux said. "It's going to make for a lot of snow fall on Saturday. Get ready, there's going to be a lot."
(Story updated at 6:00 a.m., 4/13/18)