Alert archive / South Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2026
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 54, NWS Sioux Falls, SD
NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 2026, 6:08 PM CDT for Clay County, Union County, South Dakota; Plymouth County, Sioux County, Iowa. It was in force for 37 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 18, 2026, 6:08 PM CDT (23:08 UTC)
- Expired
- May 18, 2026, 6:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Sioux Falls, SD
- Area
- Storm-based polygon
- Hail
- 1.0 in
- Wind
- 60.0 mph
Counties Plymouth County, IA, Sioux County, IA, Clay County, SD, Union County, SD
The radar
The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:07 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
The nearest sounding before it
Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 175 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 871 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 271 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 220 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 18, 1:01 PM CDT, 5 hours 7 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
- Showers and isolated thunderstorms return to the area this afternoon this evening into tonight.
- A few storms along and southeast of a Wayne to Sheldon to Windom line may be strong to severe late this afternoon into this evening. The main threat would be hail to half dollar size but storms this strong should remain very isolated and likely closer to near and east of Highway 60.
- Areas of frost or freeze will be possible on Wednesday morning, with the better chances north of I-90.
- Cool conditions prevail this week. Dry weather expected mid week. Another round of storms is possible Thursday through Friday.
Area forecast discussion, May 18, 1:01 PM CDT, 5 hours 7 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD 101 PM CDT Mon May 18 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Showers and isolated thunderstorms return to the area this afternoon this evening into tonight. - A few storms along and southeast of a Wayne to Sheldon to Windom line may be strong to severe late this afternoon into this evening. The main threat would be hail to half dollar size but storms this strong should remain very isolated and likely closer to near and east of Highway 60. - Areas of frost or freeze will be possible on Wednesday morning, with the better chances north of I-90. - Cool conditions prevail this week. Dry weather expected mid week. Another round of storms is possible Thursday through Friday. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 1258 PM CDT Mon May 18 2026 Early this afternoon the surface to 925 mb front was across southern NE into southern IA. Given the marginal strength of the incoming wave, this boundary should not lift far enough north and west by late afternoon to get into the area. This should limit any wind and tornado threats and keep them off to the southeast. However, some elevated hailers will remain possible across mainly northwest IA as elevated CAPE values ramp up to about 1000-1500 J/KG and deep layer shear is a fairly strong, unidirectional 40-50 knots. This would be lifting a parcel from above the stratus layer, which would likely be in about the 800-750mb layer. The better chances will be from about 5 pm to 9 pm. After this wave pushes the remaining instability out of the area this evening, dry and cool conditions are expected for Tuesday and Wednesday. The only concerns on these two days will be the potential for frost and freeze conditions, mostly north of I-90, as surface high pressure is in place. Another weaker wave moves through the area on Wednesday but for now this appears to bring mainly mid level cloud cover. The next better chance for showers and thunderstorms will come Thursday night into Friday night. At this time severe weather looks to remain isolated as model instability fields are hinting at 1000 J/kg CAPE or less for the most part. Once this wave passes a warming trend should move in as flat ridging aloft develops ahead of a deepening low pressure in the Northern Rockies. Saturday should be mild, likely in the 70s, while Sunday sees the better chance to warm into the 80s. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z TUESDAY/... Issued at 1243 PM CDT Mon May 18 2026 Widespread stratus, mai.nly IFR but occasionally MVFR, will persist through much of the night, but gradually improve later tonight into Tuesday morning. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms will increase in coverage through the afternoon into the early evening, then gradually diminish through the early overnight hours. The strongest thunderstorms will be in parts of northwest IA, with the better chance from 5 pm through 9 pm. A few of these storms could contain hail. && .FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SD...None. MN...None. IA...None. NE...None. && DISCUSSION...08 AVIATION...08
Hazardous weather outlook, May 18, 3:31 AM CDT, 14 hours 37 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD 331 AM CDT Mon May 18 2026 IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097- 098-NEZ013-014-SDZ038>040-050-052>071-190845- Lyon-Osceola-Dickinson-Sioux-O'Brien-Clay-Plymouth-Cherokee- Buena Vista-Woodbury-Ida-Lincoln-Murray-Cottonwood-Nobles-Jackson- Pipestone-Rock-Dixon-Dakota-Beadle-Kingsbury-Brookings-Gregory- Jerauld-Sanborn-Miner-Lake-Moody-Brule-Aurora-Davison-Hanson-McCook- Minnehaha-Charles Mix-Douglas-Hutchinson-Turner-Bon Homme-Yankton- Union- 331 AM CDT Mon May 18 2026 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northwest Iowa, west central Iowa, southwest Minnesota, northeast Nebraska, central South Dakota, east central South Dakota, south central South Dakota and southeast South Dakota. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms return to the area this afternoon through tonight. A few strong to severe storms are possible along and southeast of a line from Wayne to Sheldon to Windom. If strong storms develop, ping pong ball sized hail and 60 mph wind gusts are the main threats. However, locally heavy rainfall and a tornado are possible. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. Chances for showers and thunderstorms return Thursday through Friday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 18, 5:21 PM CDT, 47 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
521 PM CDT Mon May 18 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0513 PM Hail 7 SSE Moville 42.39N 96.03W
05/18/2026 E0.70 Inch Woodbury IA Trained Spotter
&&
TRMLocal storm report, May 18, 5:42 PM CDT, 26 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
542 PM CDT Mon May 18 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0523 PM Hail 3 WSW Correctionville 42.46N 95.84W
05/18/2026 M1.75 Inch Woodbury IA Public
Social media picture.
&&
akLocal storm report, May 18, 5:48 PM CDT, 20 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
548 PM CDT Mon May 18 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0539 PM Hail 2 N Washta 42.60N 95.71W
05/18/2026 E0.88 Inch Cherokee IA Trained Spotter
&&
TRMLocal storm report, May 18, 5:49 PM CDT, 19 minutes before
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</html>The office that day
Everything else NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 7:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Union | 58 min |
| May 17, 7:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Plymouth, Sioux | 28 min |
| May 17, 7:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | O'Brien, Osceola | 26 min |
| May 17, 7:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Woodbury | 49 min |
| May 17, 7:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Cherokee, Plymouth, Woodbury | 43 min |
| May 17, 8:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | O'Brien, Osceola, Plymouth, Sioux | 45 min |
| May 17, 8:03 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FSD | Plymouth, Sioux | 3 hr |
| May 17, 8:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Ida, O'Brien and 3 more | 54 min |
| May 17, 8:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, O'Brien | 28 min |
| May 17, 8:48 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Clay, Dickinson | 27 min |
| May 17, 8:54 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Clay, Dickinson | 51 min |
| May 18, 5:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Cherokee, Ida, Plymouth, Woodbury | 49 min |
| May 18, 5:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, O'Brien | 42 min |
| May 17, 7:31 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Jackson | 14 min |
| May 17, 7:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Cottonwood, Jackson | 15 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Dakota, 2026Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 2026Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2026
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.