National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Storm Impacting the Northwest U.S.; Fire Weather Conditions in Southern California; Severe Weather in the South

A Pacific storm is bringing areas of low elevation rain, moderate to heavy mountain snow, and high winds to the Northwest. Strong Santa Ana winds and very dry conditions are producing elevated to critical fire weather conditions in southern California. Isolated strong to severe thunderstorms are possible through early Wednesday morning across parts of northeast Texas into western Tennessee. Read More >

Overview

A strong winter storm impacted the region beginning on Saturday December 23 through Tuesday, December 26. Strong winds gusting between 35 and 50 mph and 4 to 10 inches of snow produced blizzard conditions west of the James River. Meanwhile 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice fell in portions of southwestern Minnesota and northwestern Iowa, resulting in a few power outages and downed tree limbs.

Many areas also received significant liquid precipitation, with 1 to 2+ inches common across the region. Three locations broke 3-day December precipitation records.

  • Sioux Falls, SD received 1.76 inches from December 24-26, breaking the old record of 1.62 inches from December 21-23, 1920.
  • Windom, MN received 1.51 inches from December 24-26, breaking the old record of 1.42 inches from December 27-29, 2018.
  • Academy, SD received 2.15 inches from December 24-26, breaking the old record of 1.50 inches from December 10-12, 1949. 

Note that snow, ice, and liquid precipitation observations listed below are through the morning of December 26, 2023.  

Image
Image of a power pole that was partially knocked down from a combination of ice and strong winds on Christmas Day.  Photo courtesy of Dickinson County Emergency Management
nws logo Media use of NWS Web News Stories is encouraged!
Please acknowledge the NWS as the source of any news information accessed from this site.
nws logo