On December 25, 1983, many holiday travelers had failed to reach their destinations. Blizzard like conditions started on December 23rd stranding hundreds of people traveling across South Dakota. According to the National Weather Service, as many as 70 vehicles were stuck along one 14-mile stretch of Interstate 90.
In addition to the Christmas Blizzard conditions, December 1983 turned out to be the coldest on record by several degrees. Temperatures broke the record for the longest continuous period with readings of zero or colder in Sioux Falls for December.
In 1983, the first wave of snow hit between November 26 and the 29th with nearly a foot of snow from Huron through Southeastern South Dakota. A persistent jet stream pattern that brought one cold Arctic blast after another through December. The coldest period was a ten-day stretch from the 16th through Christmas Day.
Because of the cold weather, there had been little snow melt. Then on December 20th, three to four inches of new dry fluffy snow fell across the state and served as fuel for the biggest Arctic blast of the month. That arrived on the 23rd and continued through Christmas Eve. High winds and loose snow produced near-zero visibility. Temperatures in Sioux Falls dipped to 22 degrees below with a wind chill temperature of minus 82.
Overall the record cold weather slowed holiday travel in much of the nation and was blamed for 137 deaths. Most of the deaths resulted from traffic accidents, but in St. Louis, six people died from hypothermia.
But on December 25, 1983, many travelers in South Dakota were dealing with record-breaking cold while digging out from drifts caused by dry fluffy snow and sustained winds of over 50 miles per hour in the days leading up the Christmas.
Production help is provided by Doctor Brad Tennant, Professor of History at Dakota Wesleyan University.