Storms start to move out of Minnesota, continue for western Wisconsin

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There are still some incredible story angles coming out of the 

Several potentially unpaid forecasters spent the weekend sleeping  at the 

National Weather Service office in Rapid City, S.D.

 as the blizzard brought the Black Hills to a standstill.

Monday the Rapid City office reported some jaw dropping updated snowfall totals of nearly 

 storm snowfall total at Lead, South Dakota

 storm total near Beulah, South Dakota (highest recorded total from storm)

These kind of prolific snowfall totals are

 incredibly rare for the Black Hills Region

, and I cannot recall seeing 58 inches in a single storm in more than 30 years of doing weather in the Upper Midwest.

The wind whipped snow took out critical NOAA Weather Radio and other sensors at the Rapid City NWS.

Unpaid NWS forecasters slept all weekend at the office

Several forecasters at the Rapid City NWS slept all weekend at the NWS office to keep critical warnings and storm information flowing as the Black Hills region was getting pounded by near hurricane force gust that topped out at 71 mph and 3 to 5 feet of snow. Due to the government shut down these forecasters are working unpaid, with no guarantee of back pay if and when the shutdown ends.

Andrew Freedman picked up on this message

Sleep was a rare commodity last weekend at the Rapid City NWS according to 

The job performed by the staff at the Rapid City NWS was well above and beyond the call of duty last weekend. Especially considering they did it without the promise of a paycheck.

Paul Huttner

Author

There are still some incredible story angles coming out of the Great Black Hills ‘Blizza-cane’ of 2013. Several potentially unpaid forecasters spent the weekend sleeping  at the National Weather Service office in Rapid City, S.D. as the blizzard brought the Black Hills to a standstill. Monday the Rapid City office reported some jaw dropping updated snowfall totals 

There are still some incredible story angles coming out of the Great Black Hills ‘Blizza-cane’ of 2013. Several potentially unpaid forecasters spent the weekend sleeping  at the National Weather Service office in Rapid City, S.D. as the blizzard brought the Black Hills to a standstill. Monday the Rapid City office reported some jaw dropping updated snowfall totals Read more →


Unpaid Rapid City NWS staff slept at the office as blizzard totals hit 58 inches

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