Winter arrives early

We were impressed to see Merle and his yard service crew hard at it early this afternoon, removing the small amount of snowfall that fell last night in Yellowstone Place. That's the boss man himself at the wheel of the Bobcat plow.
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Yellowstone Place residents have already seen substantial snow this season, and winter is still a week away! But the bitter cold that pushed into the northern Black Hills yesterday afternoon has brought temperatures we've not encountered in a good long while! The highest temperature of the day was -5 degrees at midnight, and Tmax Weather reports that the mercury dropped to -13 at about 6:30 this morning, supposedly our overnight low.

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We recorded -24 on our backyard thermometer (a remote digital unit by Springfield) and a -19 on our front porch unit (a remote digital unit by La Crosse). At 2:30 p.m., winds at the Spearfish airport were in excess of 20mph and the temperature was -11, with a wind chill index of -36. The National Weather Service forecast for the next day or so isn't very encouraging:

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This Afternoon: Patchy blowing snow and a chance of snow. Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near -12. Wind chill values between -37 and -42. Northwest wind around 18 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.Tonight: Patchy blowing snow and a slight chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -20. Wind chill values between -36 and -41. West wind between 7 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

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The sun has shone most of the day, offering a false sense of non-threatening conditions. The National Weather Service has issued a wind chill warning, advising area residents to be very cautious.

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Be safe and keep warm!