Lightning Strikes in South Dakota, July 7 to 8, 2001

Name: Lightning Strikes in South Dakota, July 7 to 8, 2001
Start: 2001-07-07T07:00
End: 2001-07-08T14:15
Location: South Dakota

July 7 to 8, 2001 · NWS UNR · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Lightning ignited several fires on July 7 and 8. No structures or crops were damaged however over 100 acres of mainly forests and shrubs were burned.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

Lightning ignited several fires on July 7 and 8. No structures or crops were damaged however over 100 acres of mainly forests and shrubs were burned.

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 Jul 7, 1:30 AM MST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 7, 1:30 AM MST, 5 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
230 AM MDT SAT JUL 7 2001

UPPER RIDGE FORECAST TO REMAIN IN PLACE FOR THE NEXT WEEK.  THE
SERIES OF WEAK SHORT WAVES ROTATING AROUND THE RIDGE WILL ALSO
CONTINUE WITH MINOR VARIATIONS IN STRENGTH AND INSTABILITY FROM DAY
TO DAY.  THE CURRENT UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE IS MOVING THROUGH THE
REGION PRODUCING GENERALLY MDT CONVECTION...MOSTLY ACROSS THE
SOUTHERN TIER OF COUNTIES.  WILL HAVE TO KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON TODD
COUNTY FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.  TSTMS HAVE PRETTY MUCH DISSIPATED
OR MOVED OUT OF THE REMAINDER OF THE CWFA.  KUDX SHOWS SPOTTY
RAINFALL ACCUMULATION ESTIMATES ACROSS FALL RIVER...SHANNON...AND
BENNETT COUNTIES THIS MORNING.  WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE
TOTALS...BUT CELL MOVEMENT IS FAST ENOUGH TO KEEP THE TOTALS BELOW
FFG VALUES.

THE REMAINDER OF THE DAY WILL MOSTLY DRY WITH THE NEXT SYSTEM
ARRIVING LATE IN THE AFTERNOON OR EVENING.  CAPE MAY BE A LITTLE
LOWER TONIGHT...BUT ENOUGH FOR WIDESPREAD ACTIVITY.  SHEAR
SUFFICIENT FOR ORGANIZED CONVECTION. TYPICAL SUMMERTIME WEATHER
EXPECTED FOR NEXT 7 DAYS.

NO CHANGE TO THE EXTENDED AT THIS TIME.

.UNR...NONE

CARPENTER

The radar

The Rapid City radar (KUDX), 13 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:58 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Pennington

When: July 7, 7:00 AM MST
Where: Pennington County, 2 mi E of Rochford
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates: 44.004, -102.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning, Meade

When: July 8, 11:30 AM MST
Where: Meade County, 10 mi S of Sturgis
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates: 44.567, -102.717 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning, Lawrence

When: July 8, 2:15 PM MST
Where: Lawrence County, 4 mi SE of Spearfish
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates: 44.359, -103.792 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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, July 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: 5260494, 5260493, 5260492.