SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Snow in July?
That’s what a record event report from the National Weather Service reported early Thursday morning in Sioux Falls.
The report from the NWS said there is a record daily maximum snowfall set for Sioux Falls for Wednesday, adding that it breaks the record of 0 inches for July 9. You can find the full report below.
KELOLAND Meteorologist’s Scott Mundt and Brian Karstens took a deep dive into the record weather event during a KELOLAND+ weather show Thursday.
Karstens looked into how snowfall records are kept, saying that they are recorded year round, even if the snowfall amount is zero.
“The snowfall and the snow depth are entered as zeros during the rainy season, except if there’s hail and it will be reported as a trace in the snow column, because it is considered frozen precipitation,” Karstens said. “A little tidbit weather knowledge.”
Karstens added looking back through the records, trace amounts of hail being counted as snowfall isn’t unprecedented.
“We look back at the weather records thinking, has this been in the books before and there are some T’s (Traces) in there, not as many as you might think though,” Karstens said.
Below you can find the snow fall records for the month of July from the National Weather Service.
Both Karstens and Mundt were surprised at the low amount of hail in July, saying the NWS has been collecting data since the 1800s, but they don’t see a lot of traces of snowfall or hail.
“I think about the number of days during the summer that I have had hail over those years and reconciling that, it doesn’t happen a lot, but does it happen once a year? Probably not,” Karstens said. “Some years I’ve had more than once, but then the, that would be technically a a trace in the frozen column.”
