On Tuesday, as the Gazette was going to press, the weather was not quite so wonderful as snow piled up. As of 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Garretson had received nearly two feet since Monday, making roads impassable.
The storm began as sleet and rain on Monday morning and produced whiteout conditions, making travel difficult already that day. By the end of the day, 5.5 inches was reported in Sioux Falls.
According to KELO, Sherman reached 10 inches by 6:00 a.m. Tuesday and snow continued to fall in rates of 1-3" per hour the rest of the morning.
At 9:00 a.m., Minnehaha County dispatch received a call about a semi truck loaded with pigs that had tipped over two miles north of Sherman at the corner of 248th Street and Highway 11. Subsequent reports came in of multiple semi and pickup trucks stuck on the Risty curve and corner (located on Highway 11 and 254th Street) as plows were pulled off Minnehaha County roadways.
This storm came on the heels of three weeks of bitter cold and blizzard conditions experienced in December, which had already canceled four days of school. The Garretson School District was not slated to head back to class from winter break until Wednesday, which made it one of the few area schools that did not need to call off on Tuesday.
