Tornadoes and Heavy Snow Pummel Great Plains, 44 Inches in One Town

Record-setting amounts of snowfall blanketed parts of South Dakota Friday while unseasonal tornadoes churned elsewhere in the state and across the Great Plains region, causing millions of dollars in damage. 

Trees and power lines are down in Lawrence County, S.D., where the town of Lead saw a record-setting 43.5 inches of snow Friday.

In Rapid City, 19 inches of snow fell before midnight Friday, shattering the old record of 1.4 inches set in 2005, according to the Argus Leader, which added by at 6 a.m. Saturday, 21.5 inches had accumulated.

In the scenic Black Hills region, 33 inches of snow fell by Friday afternoon, The Associated Press reported, adding that the storm system also generated tornadoes in the state as well as in Nebraska and Iowa.

A blizzard warning is in effect for central South Dakota until Saturday evening. The storm system also caused heavy, wet snow to accumulate in parts of Wyoming.

In Wayne, Neb., 15 people were injured after a tornado touched down there before the system continued on to the southeastern edge of South Dakota, where it damaged several homes.

Tornadoes around Sioux City, Iowa caused heavy damage.

In Woodbury County, Iowa, a single tornado morphed into twin tornadoes, while a third formed nearby, cutting a path that was nearly 35 miles long. Twenty homes were destroyed, while 60 more were damaged, some severely, the Des Moines Register reported.

No deaths were reported as a result of the tornadoes, but three people were killed in a traffic accident in Nebraska. Snowy conditions are being blamed as the cause of the crash, the AP reported.

October snowfall is not unusual for the Great Plains region, but storms of this magnitude usually one happen once every decade or two, National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Trimarchi told the AP.

"I couldn't say when the last time we've had one like this. It's been quite a while," Trimarchi said.