Damaging Winds in South Dakota, March 12, 2001

Name: Damaging Winds in South Dakota, March 12, 2001
Start: 2001-03-12T15:45
End: 2001-03-12T16:25
Location: South Dakota

March 12, 2001 · NWS UNR · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Convective showers developed due to diurnal heating. Occasional lightning accompanied the showers.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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.

Convective showers developed due to diurnal heating. Occasional lightning accompanied the showers. Strong low level winds were brought to the surface with downdrafts from the stronger cells.

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

Area forecast discussion, Mar 12, 2:00 PM MST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The Rapid City radar (KUDX), 69 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:47 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Lawrence

When: March 12, 3:45 PM MST
Where: Lawrence County, 4 mi SE of Whitewood
Measured: 64 kt (74 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.433, -103.583

Thunderstorm Wind, Pennington

When: March 12, 4:15 PM MST
Where: Pennington County, Rapid City
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 44.083, -103.217

Thunderstorm Wind, Meade

When: March 12, 4:25 PM MST
Where: Meade County, (Rca)ellsworth Afb R
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by: METEOROLOGIST(NON NWS)
Coordinates: 44.150, -103.100

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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, 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: 5233922, 5233924, 5233923.