The winter of 2017-18 will go in the history books for its April snows.

Last weekend’s storm dumped 11 inches in Flandreau over two days and included ice, blowing and drifting.

Total accumulation by 7 a.m. April 14 was 3.7 inches, with 6.8 inches added by that time on April 15. Another half inch fell the following day.

Those April 14 and 15 dates were both recording-breaking snows, said Brad Adams, observing program leader at the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls. The previous April 14 record was 3.5 inches in 1949, while the previous April 15 record was .2 inches in 1953, he said.

“It smashed the old record,” he said of the April 15 data.

On Monday, the April snows were close to breaking the monthly record, and more snow was expected mid-week.

“We’re not done. We only need less than an inch to be the all-time snowiest April,” Adams said.

Flandreau has gotten 18.7 inches this month.

Moody County Sheriff Troy Wellman said his department took reports of stuck cars, wrote a handful of tickets for motorists driving on Interstate 29 when it was closed and had a report of one injury accident on the interstate at the Flandreau exit. The driver hit ice and hit the overpass bridge, and had a possible broken arm, he said.

In addition, a 61-year-old man died in Trent in what is believed to be a weather-related medical emergency on Sunday, he said.

Flandreau farmer Bret Severtson said his family had 40 cows deliver calves during the storm, and with time to prepare because of the forecasts, it went well, but was tiring. Most of the cows were in barns to deliver but a handful of calves had to be brought in after they were born, he said.

“You can take some cold (for the calves), but when you have the 50 to 60 mile-an-hour winds that will zap down their temperatures,” he said.

Monday, the Severtsons were clearing out barns and preparing for the next storm.

“Our bodies are pretty sore today,” he said. The calves born outside weighed between 70 and 100 pounds each and typically had to be carried some distance to get to a vehicle. His wife had put out a social media call for towels and blankets to dry the animals off once they were given a hot bath or put in a hot box to bring their temperatures up. Within a half hour, she had a vehicle full of towels and blankets, he said.

“We were extremely fortunate we had a lot of people volunteer to help. We wouldn‘t have been able to do it on our own,” he said. “That was some pretty cool small-town stuff.”

Cattle farmers across the state were in the same situation, he said. He remembers other spring snows, too, but this was different.

“The length and intensity of this one kind of make it unique,” he said.

The blizzard also led to closed businesses, cancelled church services, postponed proms, clogged roads and recommendations of no travel.

Marc Blum, Moody County highway superintendent, said the north-south roads in the county cleaned up nicely, but the east-west roads had snow and ice stuck to them. Crews were still working on those roads on Monday, and Blum hoped sun and warmer temperatures would help.

There were sizable drifts up to four-feet on some roads, and the interstate exit was plugged with a six to eight-foot drift that took a while to clear, Blum said.

Saturday night, a highway truck had to bust through drifts for an ambulance to take a person with a medical issue to Sioux Falls. The ambulance made it to the hospital but got stuck a couple times returning to Flandreau, he said.

Both Moody County high schools had to change prom plans for their students.

Flandreau’s prom was scheduled for the evening of April 14, followed by a post-prom trip to SDSU for all-night activities, including swimming, an escape room and a hypnotist. School administration moved the event back one week to this coming Saturday with grand march at 8 p.m.

All of the after-prom activities were rescheduled as well, said Superintendent Rick Weber. The school decided to move the event an entire week rather than just a day so people wouldn’t have to keep second-guessing what the weather would do, he said.

“We moved it just to ease everybody’s thoughts,” he said. “That gives us a whole week to work on it again.”

Tuxedo rental places and flower shops have accommodated the students going to prom, he said. “If you’re getting ready for prom, you should have a little bit of time ahead of time,” he said.

At Colman-Egan, about 70 students were expecting prom to be at 7 p.m. Friday, April 13, and initially the school moved it up two hours and then to the afternoon of April 15. That morning, after the storm lingered longer than expected, administration decided to move it to this coming Sunday with grand march at 3 p.m. and the after-prom party to follow.

“There is no easy way to make a decision about the weather based on predicted weather,” said Superintendent Tracey Olson. “There are so many moving pieces from meals to appointments and tuxedo rentals to consider, but our number one priority is the safety of our students. Prom is an exciting and fun event for our students and we are making every effort to have prom and to keep our students safe.”

So far this winter, Flandreau has had 67.6 inches of snow, more than doubling last winter’s total of 31.9 inches. In November, 1.4 inches fell, followed by 11.2 in December. January brought 4.8 inches and February had 14.2 inches. In March, 17.3 inches was recorded, while April had 18.7 inches as of Monday.