Tornado, Roberts
- When
- May 17, 5:00 PM CST to 5:03 PM CST
- Where
- Roberts County, 8 mi NW of Ortley
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.4 mi
- Path width
- 15 yd
- Coordinates
- 45.420, -97.320
Tornado in South Dakota, May 17, 1996
A narrow path tornado touched down 8 miles northwest of Ortley. A machine shed roof was blown off and destroyed, and a 2-ton grain dryer was thrown 100 feet.
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
- None recorded
- 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 narrow path tornado touched down 8 miles northwest of Ortley. A machine shed roof was blown off and destroyed, and a 2-ton grain dryer was thrown 100 feet. Path length and width were estimated.
The radar
The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 85 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:01 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
- Tornado in Minnesota, May 17, 1996
- Flash Flood in Indiana, May 17, 1996
- Heat in Missouri, May 17 to 20, 1996
- Flash Flood in Ohio, May 17, 1996
- Flood in Ohio, May 17, 1996
- Hail in Iowa, May 17, 1996
- Tornado in North Dakota, May 17, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, May 17, 1996
- Tornado in Minnesota, May 17, 1996
- Tornado in Idaho, May 17, 1996
- Tornado in Idaho, May 17, 1996
- Flash Flood in North Dakota, May 17, 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, May 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5566739.