Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 2026

Tornado Warning 24, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

May 31, 2026Minnehaha County, South Dakota

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at May 31, 2026, 8:43 PM CDT for Minnehaha County, South Dakota. It was in force for 32 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 31, 2026, 8:43 PM CDT (01:43 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 2026, 9:15 PM CDT
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area: Storm-based polygon
Tornado: Radar indicated
Hail: 0.75 in

County Minnehaha County, SD

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 11 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:43 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this tornado warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 197 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.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 1517 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1020 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 120 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 168 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

067 
WFUS53 KFSD 010143
TORFSD
SDC099-010215-
/O.NEW.KFSD.TO.W.0024.260601T0143Z-260601T0215Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
Tornado Warning
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
843 PM CDT Sun May 31 2026

The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls has issued a

* Tornado Warning for...
  South central Minnehaha County in southeastern South Dakota...

* Until 915 PM CDT.

* At 843 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado
  was located over Ellis, or near Sioux Falls, moving east at 15 mph.

  HAZARD...Tornado.

  SOURCE...Radar indicated rotation.

  IMPACT...Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without 
           shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. 
           Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur.  Tree 
           damage is likely.

* This dangerous storm will be near...
  Sioux Falls and Ellis around 850 PM CDT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TAKE COVER NOW! Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest
floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If you are outdoors, in a
mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter
and protect yourself from flying debris.

&&

LAT...LON 4350 9692 4356 9693 4360 9671 4350 9670
TIME...MOT...LOC 0143Z 263DEG 14KT 4353 9685 

TORNADO...RADAR INDICATED
MAX HAIL SIZE...<.75 IN

$$

SG

2 follow-up statements

632 
WWUS53 KFSD 010201
SVSFSD

Severe Weather Statement
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
901 PM CDT Sun May 31 2026

SDC099-010215-
/O.CON.KFSD.TO.W.0024.000000T0000Z-260601T0215Z/
Minnehaha SD-
901 PM CDT Sun May 31 2026

...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 915 PM CDT FOR SOUTH
CENTRAL MINNEHAHA COUNTY...

At 901 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado
was located over Sioux Falls, moving east at 20 mph.

HAZARD...Tornado.

SOURCE...Radar indicated rotation.

IMPACT...Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without 
         shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage 
         to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur.  Tree damage is 
         likely.

Locations impacted include...
  Sioux Falls.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TAKE COVER NOW! Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest
floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If you are outdoors, in a
mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter
and protect yourself from flying debris.

&&

LAT...LON 4350 9685 4356 9685 4358 9671 4350 9670
TIME...MOT...LOC 0201Z 267DEG 16KT 4353 9674 

TORNADO...RADAR INDICATED
MAX HAIL SIZE...<.75 IN

$$

SG

751 
WWUS53 KFSD 010212
SVSFSD

Severe Weather Statement
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
912 PM CDT Sun May 31 2026

SDC099-010222-
/O.EXP.KFSD.TO.W.0024.000000T0000Z-260601T0215Z/
Minnehaha SD-
912 PM CDT Sun May 31 2026

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR SOUTH CENTRAL MINNEHAHA COUNTY WILL EXPIRE
AT 915 PM CDT...

The storm which prompted the warning has weakened below severe
limits, and no longer appears capable of producing a tornado.
Therefore, the warning will be allowed to expire.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch remains in effect until 100 AM CDT for
southeastern South Dakota.

&&

LAT...LON 4350 9685 4356 9685 4358 9671 4350 9670
TIME...MOT...LOC 0212Z 263DEG 14KT 4353 9668 

$$

SG

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at May 31, 6:55 PM CDT, 1 hour 48 minutes earlier. Its key messages:

Isolated to scattered thunderstorms should develop late this afternoon into early evening. Large hail up to half dollar and damaging winds to 60 mph would be the main hazards. A Level 1 of 5 risk for severe storms covers most of the area for this threat.
Similar to today, a conditional Level 1 of 5 risk for severe storms covers the forecast area Monday afternoon. The chance of development looks lower than today, but if a storm can form, large hail and isolated damaging winds could occur.
High chances (50-80%) for rain will persist through the bulk of next week. However, severe storm chances continue to look low (near 5% or less) through next week. The better chances for rainfall appear to be Wednesday in central SD and Wednesday night into Thursday area wide.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 6:55 PM CDT, 1 hour 48 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
Issued by National Weather Service Rapid City SD
655 PM CDT Sun May 31 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Isolated to scattered thunderstorms should develop late this
  afternoon into early evening. Large hail up to half dollar and
  damaging winds to 60 mph would be the main hazards. A Level 1
  of 5 risk for severe storms covers most of the area for this
  threat.

- Similar to today, a conditional Level 1 of 5 risk for severe
  storms covers the forecast area Monday afternoon. The chance
  of development looks lower than today, but if a storm can
  form, large hail and isolated damaging winds could occur.

- High chances (50-80%) for rain will persist through the bulk
  of next week. However, severe storm chances continue to look
  low (near 5% or less) through next week. The better chances
  for rainfall appear to be Wednesday in central SD and
  Wednesday night into Thursday area wide.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 1235 PM CDT Sun May 31 2026

An active pattern is expected over the next several days, although
severe weather appears to remain a minor threat. Patchy heavy rain
may play the bigger role with each event.

For this afternoon and tonight, a small corridor of low level
convergence and lift will focus near and just east of the James
Valley. Clouds have cleared through early afternoon and temperatures
have risen a touch. Along with this temperature rise is a turn in
the surface winds to a more south to southwest direction vs.
southeast. This is what is aiding in this low level convergence. The
latest model soundings indicate something around 1500-2000 J/kg CAPE
but weak, disorganized shear. This suggests severe weather should
remain limited, but maybe a cell merger or two could produce a
couple of updrafts strong enough to support hail to half dollar
and wind gusts to 60 mph. Stronger storms will likely drift
east or northeast at about 15 mph, so fairly slow moving. With
this slower storm motion in mind, will need to keep an eye on
the locally heavy rain potential. A handful of the latest hi-res
models are showing small areas of 1-3" of rain with this
development. One area to keep a closer eye on will be parts of
Western Lake county, Northeast McCook and western Minnehaha
where 1-3" of rain fell late last night.

The question becomes what will drive development; will it be diurnal
heating, which would allow updrafts to start developing around 19-
21z, or will it be the weak wave which moves into the area closer to
0-3z this evening. The latest HRRR and Nam output agree with the
later start times, with the Nam indicating a stronger cap and less
development, while the RRFS and RAP kick off development a little
sooner with weaker capping. With the clearing that we are seeing in
central SD towards the James Valley we may see some development by
mid to late afternoon as destabilization is more likely. Suspect
some development between about 5-6pm.

One last thing to watch out for, if we can get mid to late afternoon
development, the LFC are marginally low and a weak convergent
boundary should be in parts of south central and southeast SD, so an
isolated funnel or two will be possible.

While a marginal risk for severe weather is in place for Monday,
confidence in the chances of development are very low. A capping
inversion may win out and for now CAPE values only running around
1000 J/kg with continued weak shear, albeit a little bit better than
today.

Another wave moves through Tuesday but weak shear and weak
instability suggest if anything can develop severe weather is very
unlikely.

Wednesday into Thursday looks like the better chance for more clouds
and better rainfall chances. Broad southerly warm advection looks to
bring in some weak elevated instability as low pressure tracks east
through ND. For now not anticipating all day rainfall but should see
off and on chances Wednesday and Thursday as this low tracks by to
the north.

Friday into Sunday will see periodic weaker waves move through the
area with a continuation of relatively weak flow aloft. This
continued weaker shear environment should keep severe weather
threats very limited.

&&

.AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS Through 00Z Monday Evening)
Issued At 651 PM CDT Sun May 31 2026

Isolated showers and thunderstorms will continue to be possible
across the area through the early evening hours. Low stratus is
expected to develop tonight over southwest Minnesota and eastern
South Dakota, especially near and east of I-29. Highest confidence
location for this MVFR to IFR stratus regarding the TAF sites will
be at KFSD. Winds will turn light through the overnight hours, and
this could also result in fog, though confidence is a bit lower in
development. Additional showers and storms may develop Monday
afternoon, but low confidence in development and location of these
storms preclude mention in the TAFs at this time.

&&

.FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SD...None.
MN...None.
IA...None.
NE...None.

&&

DISCUSSION...08
AVIATION...13

Hazardous weather outlook, May 31, 1:33 PM CDT, 7 hours 10 minutes before

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
133 PM CDT Sun May 31 2026

IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097-
098-NEZ013-014-SDZ038>040-050-052>071-011845-
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-
133 PM CDT Sun May 31 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...This afternoon and tonight.

A Level 1 of 5 risk for severe storms is in place for late this
afternoon and evening. Isolated to scattered thunderstorms should
develop late this afternoon between the James River and I-29, then
progress eastward through the evening. A very isolated stronger
storm could produce hail to half dollar and wind gusts to 60 mph.
Locally heavier rain will also be possible with small swaths of one
to three inches of rainfall.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday.

There is a low chance for storms again Monday afternoon. Similar to
today, confidence in storm development is low. However, if storms
can develop, isolated damaging winds and large hail would be the
main threats.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not expected at this time.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 31, 7:24 PM CDT, 1 hour 19 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
724 PM CDT Sun May 31 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0723 PM     Rain             Emery                   43.60N 97.62W
05/31/2026  M3.50 Inch       Hanson             SD   Law Enforcement

&&

PR

Local storm report, May 31, 7:38 PM CDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
738 PM CDT Sun May 31 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0726 PM     Hail             2 WSW Humboldt          43.63N 97.12W
05/31/2026  M1.00 Inch       Minnehaha          SD   Trained Spotter

            In addition to hail up to the size of
            quarters, heavy rainfall was reported.

&&

TRM

Local storm report, May 31, 7:40 PM CDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
740 PM CDT Sun May 31 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0733 PM     Hail             4 SW Hurley             43.24N 97.15W
05/31/2026  E1.00 Inch       Turner             SD   Fire Dept/Rescue

&&

TRM

Local storm report, May 31, 8:05 PM CDT, 38 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
805 PM CDT Sun May 31 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0754 PM     Hail             2 WNW Davis             43.27N 97.04W
05/31/2026  E1.00 Inch       Turner             SD   Public

&&

TRM

Local storm report, May 31, 8:18 PM CDT, 25 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
818 PM CDT Sun May 31 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0817 PM     Hail             Wakonda                 43.01N 97.11W
05/31/2026  E0.88 Inch       Clay               SD   Trained Spotter

&&

TRM

Local storm report, May 31, 8:23 PM CDT, 20 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
823 PM CDT Sun May 31 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0811 PM     Tornado          4 W Wall Lake           43.53N 97.03W
05/31/2026                   Minnehaha          SD   NWS Employee

            Radar confirmed tonado.

&&

TRM

The office that day

Everything else NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 31, 7:06 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	McCook, Minnehaha	39 min
May 31, 7:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	McCook, Minnehaha	52 min
May 31, 7:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Lincoln, Turner	52 min
May 31, 7:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	McCook, Minnehaha	23 min
May 31, 7:50 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	Turner	40 min
May 31, 7:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Minnehaha	51 min
May 31, 8:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	Minnehaha	42 min
May 31, 8:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Lincoln, Turner	54 min
May 31, 8:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	Lincoln, Turner	46 min
May 31, 8:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Clay, Lincoln, Turner, Yankton	63 min
May 31, 8:57 PM CDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observed	FSD	Lincoln, Turner	35 min
May 31, 9:11 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	Clay, Union	49 min
May 31, 9:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Clay, Union	47 min
May 31, 11:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Union	52 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Dakota, 2026 Every tornado warning in 2026 Tornadoes 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.