SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Sleet, ice, slush and just rain are part of Tuesday’s mixed bag of moisture for the Sioux Falls area.
A power outage forced George McGovern Middle School to close at noon today, a school official said.
There have been reported power outages in the northwestern part of Sioux Falls. As of 2 p.m., an outage map reported 14 customers without power in Minnehaha County.
Drivers were warned that side streets in the city could be slick or slushy and that main routes were mostly wet earlier this morning.
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Snowbanks from last week’s storm are covering storm drains and causing minor flooding in some areas of the city.
The ice did cause some power outages in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties and the city. Crews were busy earlier this morning fix lines and poles.
A national power outage map said that as of 11 a.m., 117 customers were without power in Minnehaha County and none were without power in Lincoln County.
Freezing rain stuck to power lines and ice on trees drove branches into lines and poles, which caused outages.
City and county leaders opened a command center to track snow plows and respond to calls of power outages and flooding.
City crews were out cleaning streets very early on Tuesday morning including removing snow and ice from storm sewer inlets.
The ice and conditions did change some schedules.
Sioux Falls public schools were two hours late on Tuesday.
Temperatures in the Sioux Falls will climb above 32 degrees today, KELOLAND Meteorologist Brian Karstens said.
If temperatures stay above freezing, it will help remove ice on power lines and trees, he said.
The ice storm warning for Sioux Falls was set to expire at noon today.
The ice, rain and snow will move out and things will be quieter in Sioux Falls during the day Wednesday.
Sioux Falls has yet to experience its worse snow dose of the storm, Karstens said. The larger amounts should start Wednesday night into Thursday.
Sioux Falls could get two to four inches of snow with high winds. Blowing and drifting snow will happen in the Sioux Falls area as well as in the northeastern part of the state.
City streets manager Dustin Hansen said depending on when the rain turns over to snow and how much accumulation we get, the city might have to issue another snow alert
By Thursday, the northeastern part of the state should have received its largest snowfall amounts, Karstens said.
Although streets were reported to be slick or slippery in some areas, Sioux Falls Police Public Information Officer Sam Clemens said there were not serious or major crashes Monday or today.
The bulk of Monday’s 25 crashes happened between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., Clemens said. They were not concentrated in one particular area, he said.
