South Dakota, 1998

Tornado and Hail in South Dakota, June 24, 1998

June 24, 1998 · NWS UNR · 9 events in 4 counties and zones

As thunderstorms passed over the southwest corner of South Dakota, a brief tornado touched down in the Hot Springs area. One person was injured when the porch of the mobile home he was standing on was destroyed.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
1
Property damage
$216,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
9

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 UNR wrote it up.

As thunderstorms passed over the southwest corner of South Dakota, a brief tornado touched down in the Hot Springs area. One person was injured when the porch of the mobile home he was standing on was destroyed. The mobile home was also destroyed. The roof of a nearby home was torn off by the same tornado as well as damaging two campers and a boat trailer. This same storm later resulted in high winds of 55 to 70 mph which raced across west central South Dakota, east of the Black Hills. A vacant mobile home was destroyed along with a roof being torn off a shed in the Fairburn area.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Fall River

When
June 24, 4:20 PM MST to 4:25 PM MST
Where
Fall River County, 3 mi W of Hot Spgs
Rating
F1
Path length
0.3 mi
Path width
66 yd
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$166,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
43.430, -103.550

A roof was blown off a house, and two campers and a boat trailer were damaged. A mobile home was also destroyed with a young man on the porch of the house thrown.

Thunderstorm Wind, Custer

When
June 24, 5:24 PM MST
Where
Custer County, Fairburn
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Property damage
$50,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.680, -103.220

A vacant mobile home was destroyed, a roof was torn off a shed and two twelve inch diameter trees were blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Custer

When
June 24, 5:34 PM MST
Where
Custer County, Hermosa
Measured
54 kt (62 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.830, -103.180

Hail, Pennington

When
June 24, 5:40 PM MST
Where
Pennington County, 7 mi SW of Rapid City
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.020, -103.320

Thunderstorm Wind, Pennington

When
June 24, 5:47 PM MST
Where
Pennington County, 8 mi E of Rapid City
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by
ARPT EQUIP(AWOS,ASOS)
Coordinates
44.080, -103.050

Hail, Meade

When
June 24, 5:47 PM MST
Where
Meade County, Black Hawk
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.150, -103.300

Thunderstorm Wind, Pennington

When
June 24, 5:55 PM MST
Where
Pennington County, Caputa
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.000, -102.980

Some tree damage.

Thunderstorm Wind, Pennington

When
June 24, 6:00 PM MST
Where
Pennington County, 10 mi S of Wall
Measured
51 kt (59 mph)
Reported by
PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates
43.850, -102.230

Thunderstorm Wind, Meade

When
June 24, 6:22 PM MST
Where
Meade County, Elm Spgs
Measured
61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.320, -102.520

Large tree blown over

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.
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.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Dakota in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for South Dakota, 1998Warnings in South Dakota, June 1998

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: 5653180, 5653181, 5653182, 5653183, 5653184, 5653187, 5653185, 5653188, 5653186.