High Wind, Harding
- When
- March 12, 1:56 PM MST to 4:55 PM MST
- Where
- Harding forecast zone
- Measured
- 62 kt (71 mph)
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 45.580, -103.496 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind in South Dakota, March 12, 2001
A very tight pressure gradient developed behind a cold front. Strong low-level winds were also able to mix to the surface.
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
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 very tight pressure gradient developed behind a cold front. Strong low-level winds were also able to mix to the surface. Winds over Harding County were sustained at 40 to 45 mph with gusts to 62 mph for just a few hours during the afternoon.
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 Mar 12, 9:10 AM MST, 4 hours 46 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 12, 9:10 AM MST, 4 hours 46 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD 910 AM MST MON MAR 12 2001 CURRENT SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWED LOW OVER SOUTHERN MINNESOTA...WITH ANOTHER OVER CENTRAL ALBERTA. TROUGH/WARM FRONT EXTENDED SOUTH INTO WESTERN DAKOTAS. AREA RADARS SHOW PRECIPITATION MOVING THROUGH NORTHEAST WYOMING AND WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA. STEEP LAPSE RATES AND NORTHWEST WINDS...UPSLOPE ENHANCING PRECIPITATION RATE ACROSS NORTHERN BLACK HILLS. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ACROSS NORTHERN BLACK HILLS...AND 1 TO 2 INCHES IN CROOK AND WESTON COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST WYOMING. LOW LEVEL TEMPERATURES SUPPORT SOME RAIN/SLEET MIXED WITH THE SNOW ON THE PLAINS. UPDATED FORECAST FOR MORE COVERAGE WITH SNOW/RAIN SHOWERS AND ADDED ACCUMULATIONS TO NORTHEAST WYOMING. MADE SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO TEMPERATURES AND WIND. .UNR...NONE.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Tornado in Alabama, March 12, 2001
- Tornadoes in Mississippi, March 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, March 12, 2001
- High Wind in Alabama, March 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Mississippi, March 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, March 12, 2001
- Tornado and Hail in Mississippi, March 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, March 12, 2001
- Tornado in Georgia, March 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, March 12, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Texas, March 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, March 12, 2001
More
Every storm in South Dakota in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, March 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: 5233925.