The FedEx truck was making one final round before Christmas on Saturday, Dec. 24 and is pictured during a stop on Cherry Street. The weather the last few days has made a significant impact on mail delivery and travel in general, although the wind has finally subsided — for now, anyway.

The clock at CorTrust Bank in Freeman tells the story of the past few days — 11-below zero Friday morning with high winds continuing to hold the region in a deep and dangerous freeze. A blizzard warning remains in effect for almost all of South Dakota with a no travel advisory throughout the state. Winds are expected to be strong through Friday, with more winter weather expected this weekend. The forecast now shows snow for Christmas Day.

The weather is a bad today as they said it was going to be, with temperatures more than 10-below zero and wind chills in the neighborhood of 50-below. All of southeastern South Dakota is in a blizzard warning because of the blowing snow, which is expected to continue through Friday before leveling out. This photo was taken at the intersection of Dewald Street and the North County Road as sun dogs colored the eastern sky.

It's fitting that on this, the first day of winter, the area is getting hit with another snow event, this one coming with extremely cold temperatures. This photo was taken late Wednesday morning as snow was falling on the Freeman community and temperatures were hovering around zero degrees. Winds are expected to increase later to day and create a ground blizzard and very dangerous wind chills through Friday. This photo was taken looking to the south; Freeman's Main Street runs through the center of it.

The sign in front of 81 Metal Art and East River Furniture along Sixth Street in Freeman, which typically carries what many would consider "dad jokes," offers this chuckle in the days leading up to the Christmas weekend.

The Pioneer Hall auditorium was quiet Monday morning, but it will be alive with the sounds of Christmas tonight as Freeman Academy finally proceeds with Yuletide. The annual holiday meal and music program was originally scheduled for Thursday and Friday, Dec. 15 and 16 but postponed because of the winter storm and its aftereffects — primarily in rural areas. For ease of rescheduling, all ticket-holders for "A Tree-Mendous Yuletide" will be accommodated tonight.

Jaque Liebl and Dylan Lehr help serve up Saturday's meal of appreciation inside the Menno City/School Auditorium — an event that doubles as Santa Day. Organizers with the Menno Community Club and Menno area businesses planned for about 300 people during the two-hour event that saw a steady crowd.

Jim Rigo moves snow Friday morning, Dec. 16 — the final day of what ended up being a nasty winter weather event across the Freeman community. What started with sleet and rain early in the week turned over to snow Wednesday, which continued well into Friday. Chad Soulek of Lawns Unlimited speculates Freeman received between 6 and 8 inches of snow and says he can't remember a multi-day weather event like this in years. "It was a doozy," said Soulek, who put in a 22-hour day Friday and was back at it Saturday morning; he hoped to be wrapped up by 3 p.m.

This drift in front of Fensel's on Highway 81 is all you need to know about the weather situation, which continues to be extreme. Snow and blowing snow remained a reality Friday morning and the moisture accumulation from the past couple of days is impacting travel considerably. Plows were out cleaning the main roads in Freeman overnight and the cleanup has continued into the daytime hours — and will in the 24 hours to come.

As was in the forecast, the Freeman area is getting hammered with a winter storm today as snow and wind is making for tough weather conditions. Area schools are closed and it's quiet around the community — with the exception of people clearing sidewalks and driveways. The system is expected to move out by tomorrow, which will be followed by bitter cold temperatures.