South Dakota, 1997

Tornadoes and Hail in South Dakota, June 22, 1997

June 22, 1997 · NWS ABR · 37 events in 12 counties and zones

Several supercell thunderstorms moved southeast along a strong warm front from eastern Corson County to southwest Deuel County from the morning through the late afternoon producing several tornados, large hail, very heavy rains, and damaging winds. Hail up to the size of baseballs and winds gusting to 70 mph damaged and destroyed thousands of acres of crops, broke windows in homes, buildings,…

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
37

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.

Several supercell thunderstorms moved southeast along a strong warm front from eastern Corson County to southwest Deuel County from the morning through the late afternoon producing several tornados, large hail, very heavy rains, and damaging winds. Hail up to the size of baseballs and winds gusting to 70 mph damaged and destroyed thousands of acres of crops, broke windows in homes, buildings, vehicles, damaged roofs and chipped paint off walls, and downed many trees from near Mobridge to Redfield to Toronto. The most extensive crop, building, and tree damage was around the areas of Redfield, Vienna, Naples, Hazel, Bryant, Henry, Lake Norden, Castlewood, Estelline, and Toronto all south of Highway 212. The hail swaths of destruction were as much as 10 miles wide in places. Some farmers said you could not even tell what was planted because the crops were completely destroyed. Hail piled up to one to two feet in places. Also, most of the area from Redfield to Toronto received one to three inches of rain which caused some flooding problems.

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 128 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:49 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

27 hail, 6 tornado, 4 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Corson

When
June 22, 5:50 AM CST
Where
Corson County, 10 mi N of Trail City
Measured
2.75 in hail
Coordinates
45.620, -100.730

Hail, Walworth

When
June 22, 6:40 AM CST
Where
Walworth County, Mobridge
Measured
0.88 in hail
Coordinates
45.530, -100.430

Hail, Walworth

When
June 22, 6:44 AM CST
Where
Walworth County, 2 mi S of Selby
Measured
0.88 in hail
Coordinates
45.470, -100.030

About 800 acres of crops were damaged.

Hail, Edmunds

When
June 22, 7:30 AM CST
Where
Edmunds County, 10 mi W of Loyalton
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
45.280, -99.480

Hail, Faulk

When
June 22, 7:30 AM CST
Where
Faulk County, 1 mi N of Onaka
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
45.200, -99.480

Hail, Corson

When
June 22, 9:30 AM CST
Where
Corson County, Mc Laughlin
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
45.820, -100.820

Hail, Campbell

When
June 22, 10:01 AM CST
Where
Campbell County, Herreid
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
45.830, -100.070

Hail, Potter

When
June 22, 10:07 AM CST
Where
Potter County, Hoven
Measured
1.75 in hail
Coordinates
45.250, -99.800

Hail, Edmunds

When
June 22, 10:30 AM CST
Where
Edmunds County, Hosmer
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
45.570, -99.480

Thunderstorm Wind, Edmunds

When
June 22, 10:30 AM CST
Where
Edmunds County, Hosmer
Measured
64 kt (74 mph)
Coordinates
45.570, -99.480

Hail, McPherson

When
June 22, 11:10 AM CST
Where
McPherson County, 4 mi E of Hillsview
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
45.670, -99.480

Hail, Edmunds

When
June 22, 11:10 AM CST
Where
Edmunds County, Hosmer
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
45.570, -99.480

Hail, Faulk

When
June 22, 11:21 AM CST
Where
Faulk County, Cresbard
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
45.170, -98.970

Tornado, Edmunds

When
June 22, 11:30 AM CST to 11:31 AM CST
Where
Edmunds County, 10 mi W of Roscoe
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
25 yd
Coordinates
45.450, -99.550

A weak narrow path tornado touched down briefly 10 miles west of Roscoe. Path length and width were estimated.

Tornado, Edmunds

When
June 22, 11:30 AM CST to 11:32 AM CST
Where
Edmunds County, 10 mi N of Roscoe
Rating
F0
Path length
0.2 mi
Path width
10 yd
Coordinates
45.600, -99.350

A narrow path tornado touched down briefly 10 miles north of Roscoe. Path length and width were estimated.

Hail, Edmunds

When
June 22, 11:48 AM CST
Where
Edmunds County, Roscoe
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
45.450, -99.350

Hail, Faulk

When
June 22, 12:40 PM CST
Where
Faulk County, 3 mi W of Rockham
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
44.900, -98.880

Hail, Spink

When
June 22, 1:05 PM CST
Where
Spink County, 5 mi SW of Redfield
Measured
1.75 in hail
Coordinates
44.820, -98.580

Hail, Spink

When
June 22, 1:11 PM CST
Where
Spink County, Redfield
Measured
2.5 in hail
Coordinates
44.870, -98.520

Thunderstorm Wind, Spink

When
June 22, 1:14 PM CST
Where
Spink County, Redfield
Measured
61 kt (70 mph)
Coordinates
44.870, -98.520

Tornado, Spink

When
June 22, 1:45 PM CST to 1:47 PM CST
Where
Spink County, Doland to 14 mi SW of Doland
Rating
F0
Path length
0.2 mi
Path width
10 yd
Coordinates
44.730, -98.300

A weak narrow path tornado touched down 14 miles southwest of Doland near Glendale Colony. Path length and width were estimated.

Hail, Clark

When
June 22, 2:09 PM CST
Where
Clark County, Raymond
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
44.920, -97.920

Thunderstorm Wind, Clark

When
June 22, 2:18 PM CST
Where
Clark County, 4 mi W of Clark
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Coordinates
44.880, -97.800

Hail, Clark

When
June 22, 2:35 PM CST
Where
Clark County, Garden City
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
44.950, -97.570

Hail, Clark

When
June 22, 2:35 PM CST to 2:45 PM CST
Where
Clark County, Vienna
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
44.700, -97.480

Dime size hail falling for several minutes piled up into 1 to 2 feet drifts in some spots.

Hail, Hamlin

When
June 22, 2:39 PM CST
Where
Hamlin County, 8 mi N of Bryant
Measured
1.75 in hail
Coordinates
44.700, -97.470

Hail, Codington

When
June 22, 2:39 PM CST to 2:47 PM CST
Where
Codington County, 3 mi SW of Henry
Measured
1.75 in hail
Coordinates
44.850, -97.500

Thunderstorm Wind, Clark

When
June 22, 2:40 PM CST
Where
Clark County, Vienna
Measured
57 kt (66 mph)
Coordinates
44.700, -97.480

Tornado, Hamlin

When
June 22, 3:26 PM CST to 3:28 PM CST
Where
Hamlin County, 7 mi SE of Hayti
Rating
F0
Path length
0.2 mi
Path width
10 yd
Coordinates
44.580, -97.100

A weak narrow path tornado touched down 7 miles southeast of Hayti. Path length and width were estimated.

Tornado, Hamlin

When
June 22, 3:28 PM CST to 3:33 PM CST
Where
Hamlin County, Lake Norden
Rating
F1
Path length
0.5 mi
Path width
25 yd
Coordinates
44.580, -97.200

A tornado touched down near Lake Norden with no damage reported. Path length and width were estimated.

Hail, Hamlin

When
June 22, 3:41 PM CST
Where
Hamlin County, Dempster
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
44.630, -96.930

Hail, Hamlin

When
June 22, 3:45 PM CST
Where
Hamlin County, 10 mi S of Castlewood
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
44.570, -97.030

Tornado, Hamlin

When
June 22, 3:45 PM CST to 3:48 PM CST
Where
Hamlin County, Bryant
Rating
F1
Path length
0.8 mi
Path width
25 yd
Coordinates
44.580, -97.470

A tornado touched down near Bryant and moved some grain bins about 3/4 of a mile and uprooted several trees in a shelter belt.

Hail, Deuel

When
June 22, 4:00 PM CST
Where
Deuel County, 2 mi W of Toronto
Measured
2.75 in hail
Coordinates
44.570, -96.670

Hail, Hamlin

When
June 22, 4:00 PM CST
Where
Hamlin County, Castlewood
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
44.720, -97.030

Hail, Hamlin

When
June 22, 4:00 PM CST
Where
Hamlin County, Hayti
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
44.650, -97.200

Hail, Clark

When
June 22, 4:21 PM CST
Where
Clark County, 8 mi E of Carpenter
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
44.630, -97.730

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
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

More

Every storm in South Dakota in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for South Dakota, 1997Warnings in South Dakota, June 1997

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: 5608496, 5608498, 5608497, 5608499, 5608500, 5608614, 5608501, 5608503, 5608502, 5608504, 5608521, 5608522, 5608505, 5608506, 5608620, 5608507, 5608509, 5608508, 5608510, 5608511, 5608523, 5608512, 5608513, 5608519, 5608617, 5608516, 5608613, 5608618, 5608612, 5608619, 5608517, 5608514, 5608520, 5608515, 5608615, 5608616, 5608518.