South Dakota, 2001

High Wind in South Dakota, December 22, 2001

December 22, 2001 · NWS UNR · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

A strong cold front moved across northwestern South Dakota during the morning. Behind this front, the surface pressure gradient tightened and strong low-level winds were able to reach the surface due to robust subsidence and boundary layer mixing.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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.

A strong cold front moved across northwestern South Dakota during the morning. Behind this front, the surface pressure gradient tightened and strong low-level winds were able to reach the surface due to robust subsidence and boundary layer mixing.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Rapid City, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 22, 9:00 AM MST, 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 22, 9:00 AM MST, 55 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
900 AM MST SAT DEC 22 2001

SOME LT SN FALLING ACRS MUCH OF WRN SD ATTM. NOTHING HEAVY...BUT
WITH THE WIND...SOME OPEN AREAS COULD HAVE SOME BLOWING SNOW
REDUCING VISIBILITIES...ESP E OF THE KRAP AREA. SOME DECENT MOISTURE
WRAPPING AROUND UPR LO SHLD KEEP SHSN GOING OVR FAR ERN ZNS AT LEAST
THROUGH MID AFTN. WINDS EXPECTED TO STAY UP IN ADVISORY CRITERIA FOR
NWRN SD THROUGH THE AFTN. CURRENT ZNS HAVE A GD HANDLE ON
SITUATION...JUST ADDED AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW IN ERN CWA AND TOOK OUT
FLURRIES IN SRN HILLS AND FAR SWRN COUNTIES WHERE DOWNSLOPING IS
VERY EVIDENT.

.UNR...WIND ADVISORY TDY WRN SD NORTH OF I-90.
JMG

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Harding

When
December 22, 9:55 AM MST to 10:56 AM MST
Where
Harding forecast zone
Measured
45 kt (52 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
45.580, -103.496 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Meade Co. Plains

When
December 22, 9:55 AM MST
Where
Meade Co. Plains forecast zone
Measured
51 kt (59 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
44.567, -102.717 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Pennington Plains

When
December 22, 10:53 AM MST to 1:53 PM MST
Where
Pennington Plains forecast zone
Measured
51 kt (59 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
44.004, -102.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Dakota in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, December 2001

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: 5275795, 5275796, 5275797.