Lightning Strike in South Dakota, June 24, 2001

Name: Lightning Strike in South Dakota, June 24, 2001
Start: 2001-06-24T15:45
End: 2001-06-24T15:45
Location: South Dakota

June 24, 2001 · NWS UNR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Nine people were standing on the beach and in the water at Sheridan Lake when lightning hit the beach. Six of the people including one who was in water were dazed and confused.

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.

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: 1
Injuries: 2
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.

Nine people were standing on the beach and in the water at Sheridan Lake when lightning hit the beach. Six of the people including one who was in water were dazed and confused. Two injuries (direct), a one year old child and a teen-age girl, were treated at a hospital. The child was in critical condition for a couple days. One fatality (direct) was an adult woman, the child's grandmother.

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 Jun 24, 2:00 PM MST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 24, 2:00 PM MST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
300 PM MDT SUN JUN 24 2001

THUNDERSTORMS WERE POPPING UP OVER ERN WYOMING...THE NEBRASKA
PANHANDLE...AND THE BLACK HILLS THIS AFTERNOON AS SHORTWAVE ENERGY
ENTERING THE AREA PROVIDES THE ADDED BOOST NECESSARY TO BREAK THE
CAP. INVERTED V SOUNDINGS INDICATE THAT GUSTY WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN
THUNDERSTORM THREAT THIS AFTN AND EVENING. STRENGTH OF CAP OVER THE
SC SOUTH DAKOTA ZONES INDICATES TRSA WILL PROBABLY STAY TO THE NORTH
AND WEST THIS EVENING...SO HAVE MENTIONED ISOLATED TSRA EVERYWHERE
BUT OVER SC SD. BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL AGAIN BE OVER
THE FAR NW SD ZONES...AS ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP IN NRN WY/SRN MT
MAY CLIP THE NW CORNER OF SD AS THEY HEAD NE.

COLD FRONT/SFC TROUGH SAGS SOUTHWARD ACROSS NORTHEASTERN WYOMING AND
WRN SOUTH DAKOTA ON MONDAY. THE FRONT IS EXPECTED TO BE THROUGH ALL
BUT OUR SOUTH CENTRAL SD ZONES BY 21Z. HIGHS TEMPS WILL BE SLIGHTLY
COOLER BEHIND THE FRONT BUT MIXING NEAR THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL
KEEP TEMPS ON THE WARM SIDE. STRONG INSTABILITY BY AFTN WILL BE
FOUND AS MOISTURE POOLS IN THE HOT AIR AHEAD OF THE FRONT...SO
EXPECT TO SEE A FEW THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP TO THE SOUTH AND EAST OF
THE FRONT MONDAY AFTN AND EVENING. OVERRUNNING WAA WILL BRING A
CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND TSRA TO MUCH OF WRN SD AND NE WYOMING ON
MONDAY NIGHT. SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALONG THE WRN EDGE OF THE RIDGE WILL
BRING SHORTWAVE ENERGY OVER NE WYOMING AND FAR WRN SD ON TUESDAY
AFTN/EVE...FOR ANOTHER CHANCE OF TSRA.

IN THE EXTENDED FORECAST...UPPER RIDGE AXIS REBOUNDS OVER THE
CENTRAL PLAINS ON THURSDAY. MRF SWINGS A TROUGH...ALONG WITH SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS...AND COOLER TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE NORTHERN
PLAINS ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. DUE TO THE DRY ATMOS IN PLACE...THE
RAIN COVERAGE AND AMOUNT OF COOLING MAY BE OVERDONE.

.UNR...NONE.

RICHA%RDS

The radar

The Rapid City radar (KUDX), 13 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:43 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Pennington

When: June 24, 3:45 PM MST
Where: Pennington County, Sheridan Lake
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 44.004, -102.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

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
Lightning, Pennington	2001-06-24	39	Female	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

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, June 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: 5254334.