Tornado, Day
- When
- July 17, 6:52 PM CST to 7:04 PM CST
- Where
- Day County, Pierpont to 1 mi E of Pierpont
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 5 mi
- Path width
- 150 yd
- Property damage
- $200,000
- Coordinates
- 45.480, -97.850
Tornado in South Dakota, July 17, 1996
A tornado touched down one mile southwest of Pierpont and traveled east northeast. Two miles east of Pierpont the tornado took out the west wall and the roof of a farmhouse, destroyed a machine shop, a garage, and six grain bins.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $200,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS ABR wrote it up.
A tornado touched down one mile southwest of Pierpont and traveled east northeast. Two miles east of Pierpont the tornado took out the west wall and the roof of a farmhouse, destroyed a machine shop, a garage, and six grain bins. A truck had its windshield crushed and its side was dented by debris. The tornado also brought down some power lines and several trees in its path.
The radar
The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:51 UTC.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood in Illinois, July 17 to 18, 1996
- Flash Flood in Illinois, July 17 to 18, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Idaho, July 17, 1996
- Rip Current in Florida, July 17, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 17, 1996
- Heavy Rain in North Dakota, July 17, 1996
- Heat in South Carolina, July 17, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Indiana, July 17, 1996
- Flash Flood in Illinois, July 17 to 18, 1996
- Flash Flood in Illinois, July 17 to 18, 1996
- Flash Flood in Illinois, July 17 to 18, 1996
- Flash Flood in Illinois, July 17 to 18, 1996
More
Every storm in South Dakota in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for South Dakota, 1996Warnings in South Dakota, July 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5567111.