High Wind in South Dakota, February 3, 2001

Name: High Wind in South Dakota, February 3, 2001
Start: 2001-02-03T12:24
End: 2001-02-03T15:30
Location: South Dakota

February 3, 2001 · NWS UNR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

high winds developed over Harding County.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 tight surface pressure gradient combined with strong winds just off the surface which were able to mix to the surface...high winds developed over Harding County.

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 Feb 3, 10:30 AM MST, 1 hour 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 3, 10:30 AM MST, 1 hour 54 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
1030 AM MST SAT FEB 3 2001

17Z SFC ANALYSIS PLACES STRONG LOW OVER NE ND THIS MORNING...
SAGGING SE WITH STRONG SFC PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER NE WYOMING AND NW
SOUTH DAKOTA. TROUGH ROTATING AROUND THE LOW HAS PASSED THROUGH NWRN
SD. HIGH WINDS ARE DEVELOPING BEHIND THE TROUGH WITH 2WX REPORTING
SUSTAINED WIND OF 40 MPH GUSTING TO 47 MPH. WIND WILL INCREASE
ACROSS THE REST OF THE AREA TODAY AS THE TROUGH ROTATES
THROUGH...TIGHTENING THE GRADIENT AND HELPING TO MIX MOMENTUM DOWN
TO THE SFC. THIS LOOKS LIKE A MARGINAL HIGH WIND EVENT...MOST LIKELY
VERIFYING ON SUSTAINED WIND INSTEAD OF GUSTS. WILL KEEP WARNINGS AND
ADVISORIES POSTED.

.UNR...HI WIND WRNG TDA NW SD
       WIND ADVY TDA CENTRAL AND S CENTRAL SD.

RICHARDS

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Harding

When: February 3, 12:24 PM MST to 3:30 PM MST
Where: Harding forecast zone
Measured: 54 kt (62 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.580, -103.496 (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

Every storm in South Dakota in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in South Dakota, February 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: 5230448.