KOTA Territory NewsMonday's snowfall in Northern Hills helpful against drought

Monday's snowfall in Northern Hills helpful against drought

While some people in KOTA Territory see Monday's snowfall as a nuisance, experts say it's vital to keep us out of drought.

A little less than four inches of snow fell in Spearfish during the early morning hours. That's equivalent to four-tenths on an inch of rain.

While the Monday's moisture helps, the Rapid City National Weather Service still reports a deficit of three-tenths of an inch of rain for the winter season.

Community members say they have seen what little moisture can do.

"It needs to get into the ground so that everything will grow. They've had some droughts out here so bad that they had to get rid of all their cattle, and nobody likes that so it's important that we get moisture out here all the time," said Richard Mario Test from Spearfish.

The U.S. Drought Monitor placed much of western South Dakota in the abnormally dry category. The current circumstances mean a drought is possible.