2 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:28 UTC.
2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A large and strengthening tornado destroyed buildings and other property on five farms and also destroyed trees and power lines before crossing the eastern edge of Hanson County.
The tornado from Hanson County destroyed most of Spencer as it strengthened and continued to grow. Most homes, other buildings, and other structures in Spencer were completely levelled. Debris and belongings were scattered over a large area, and one receipt blown from Spencer was found just west of Chandler, MN about 80 miles east of Spencer. The tornado killed 6 and injured 150 in Spencer. The tornado continued southeast from Spencer, widened, then weakened, and dissipated 4 miles southwest of Salem with another tornado then forming from the same storm. The tornado caused additional damage to trees, power lines, crops, and buildings on farms after moving southeast of Spencer.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado, McCook | 1998-05-30 | 77 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Tornado, McCook | 1998-05-30 | 93 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Tornado, McCook | 1998-05-30 | 68 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Tornado, McCook | 1998-05-30 | 62 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Tornado, McCook | 1998-05-30 | 85 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Tornado, McCook | 1998-05-30 | 70 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Dakota in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for South Dakota, 1998Warnings in South Dakota, May 1998
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: 5645425, 5645426.