In mid-November of 1996, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe encountered the first of soon to be many blizzards of this young, yet ferocious winter. In late November, the reservation had a second blizzard, which prompted the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe on December 4th, 1996 to declare by resolution, the reservation a disaster.

On the evening of December 15th, the reservation was hit with one of the largest of blizzards in recorded history. This blizzard lasted six days, subsiding on December 20th. The storm left in it's wake snow drifts as large as 30 feet high and over one half mile long. This storm also created compacted snow which was tested in excess of 270 pounds per square inch. This blizzard dumped as much as 25" of snow with wind speeds in excess of 50 miles per hour. "White Out" conditions prevailed throughout this storm.

Nearly all reservation residents were left stranded due to this storm. Chairman Gregg Bourland created a Emergency Disaster Office on December 18th, which operates 24 hours per day to this day. CRST Rescue Rangers were fully functional by this storm.

On December 20th, due to lack of sufficient equipment on the part of the Bureau of Indian affairs, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe began to hire various contractors to remove snow from reservation communities, ranches, farms, roads, and streets.

On December 28th, the reservation received another two day blizzard which again hampered the snow removal process from the large storm of December 15-20. "White Out" conditions again prevailed through this storm.

On January 3rd, 1997, with temperatures of approximately 40 degrees, the reservation received a large amount of freezing rain throughout the day. This rain turned to sleet, then to snow, the early evening of the 3rd. By the early morning of the 4th, the reservation was into it's fourth blizzard of the season with temperatures reaching zero and wind chills of Minus 20 below zero.

Storms created an icy, near glacier environment, with ice crusts as deep as one foot in many places and snow compaction ratings of 600 pound per square inch.

On January 8th, the reservation was hit with yet another winter storm. With wind speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour (some areas have reported winds far in excess of 80 miles per hour) and sub zero temperatures creating wind chills of over MINUS 85 degrees below zero. This storm lasted three and one-half days, ending on the 11th. This storm again completely blocked all roads and streets. Livestock losses were reported across the reservation. White Out conditions again prevailed throughout this storm.

On Wednesday, January 15th, the reservation received a 24-hour blizzard with high wind speeds and sub-zero temperatures. This storm also completely blocked all roads and streets. Rescue crews were again hampered by the total "white out" storm conditions.

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Barbara Johnson, Ph.D.
Dakota Interconnect Demonstration Site
barbarajohnson@midco.net
Phone: (605) 229-5988