Tornado and Hail in South Dakota, June 4 to 5, 1999

A tornado touched down west of Murdo and went through an uninhabited farmstead tipping over a shed, moving some machinery around, tearing up a few trees, and scattering some hay bales around. On another farm, the tornado tore apart an open fronted shed, tipped over a wooden granary into a travel trailer, turned a combine ninety degrees, tore up some calving sheds, and snapped the tops of many cottonwood trees. The snapped tree tops were laying in all different angles. Some power poles and lines were brought down, leaving many in the dark for several hours. The tornado moved northeast and flipped over a semi trailer parked at a rest area on Interstate-90 and continued north damaging some more power lines and small structures before dissipating. Path length and width were estimated.

Strong winds to 60 mph blew many tree branches down throughout Blunt.

Winds gusting to 65 mph caused damage to several trees in Highmore. One branch took down a power line.

The high winds blew down a barn and took out several windows in the farmhouse.

Winds gusting to 80 mph slid a pickup over.

Winds to 70 mph blew apart a machine shed, destroyed several grain bins, and blew a silo over.

High winds blew a pole barn several feet across a gravel road.

Lightning struck the chimney on a bait shop shattering it down to the roof level. Parts of the cement block chimney were laying on both sides of the building. The lightning also knocked out the freezer and the aerator in the minnow tank, killing all of the minnows. The business next to the bait shop lost their stereo system and two video poker machines from the lightning strike. All businesses on the south side of main street were without telephone service.

Winds gusting to 74 mph knocked down several trees and many tree branches throughout Groton. One tree took out a major transmission line and ripped the electrical service line off of a house. Power was out for parts of Groton for several hours. The high winds shattered the windows at a store on Main street and tore a standing board on a sign loose which damaged five new vehicles at a dealership in Groton. The high winds also destroyed a small service building and the surrounding fence at a main juncture of natural gas pipelines at Groton.

Winds gusting to 80 mph snapped off several trees, blew a garage down, and brought power lines down in Hazel.

Winds to 70 mph brought several trees and many large tree branches down in Henry.

Seventy mph winds brought down a large pine tree in Grover.

Winds gusting to over 70 mph in Watertown blew a portion of the roof off of a house and destroyed the attached garage on another house. Near Watertown, a pole barn was destroyed, a hay bale was blown into a basement window of a house and part of their deck was torn away. The high winds also downed many tree branches in town.

Near Florence, winds to 80 mph tipped over and damaged a small shed, destroyed another storage shed, and also completely demolished a three stall garage. Also near Florence, a large barn was blown down.

Winds gusting to 70 mph blew a large tree down across a road near Clear Lake.

At a farm near Clear Lake, winds gusting to 70 mph blew in some windows on the house, damaged the barn, and blew down a big cottonwood tree.

At a farm east of Veblen, a big machine shed was lifted up and then sat down in a tree belt 60 feet away. A large tree was also uprooted by the high winds.

High winds caused a lot of tree damage and brought down a tree in Wilmot.

Winds gusting to 80 mph destroyed a garage and a camper on a farm near Big Stone Lake. The high winds also toppled several trees.