High Wind in South Dakota, April 23, 2002

Name: High Wind in South Dakota, April 23, 2002
Start: 2002-04-23T14:32
End: 2002-04-23T18:45
Location: South Dakota

April 23, 2002 · NWS UNR · 14 events in 14 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 14 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: 1
Property damage: $100
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 14

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 strong cold front blasted across Western South Dakota in early afternoon hours. Through the afternoon and evening hours, the surface pressure gradient, along with copious subsidence and strong low-level winds which were able to reach the surface through boundary layer mixing, persisted. All these ingredients combined to produce very strong winds. One injury was reported near Enning in Meade County when a port-a-potty was blown over, breaking the occupants arm. In Northern Ziebach County winds gusted over 80 mph, blowing over a 55 gallon drum of gasoline.

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 Apr 23, 2:00 PM MST, 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 23, 2:00 PM MST, 32 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
300 PM MDT TUE APR 23 2002

STRONG SHORT WAVE TRACKING ACRS MT ATTM...PER WATER VAPOR IMAGERY.
SFC LOW ACRS NCNTRL SD WITH CDFNT EXTDG WWD THRU K2WX-KGCC. SHRA
DVLPG ALG AND BEHIND CDFNT.  MAIN FCST CONCERNS CENTERED ON STRONG
WINDS BEHIND FROPA...AND THREAT FOR ACCUMULATING SNOW IN THE
NORTHERN BLACK HILLS THIS EVENING.

CDFNT WILL WORK THRU ENTIRE CWFA BY LATE THIS EVENING.  NLY WINDS
GUSTING TO 50 MPH LIKELY BEHIND FNT THIS EVE...ESPECIALLY NORTH OF
I-90. STRONG MIXING AT LOW LEVELS WITH MOMENTUM TRANSFER OF AROUND
50KTS WILL ALLOW ADVISORY CRITERIA TO BE MET THIS EVE THESE
AREAS...AND THUS WILL CONT THE WIND ADVISORY.  A NARROW RIBBON OF
INSTABILITY HAS DEVELOPED INVOF CDFNT...THUS THREAT OF CONVECTION
NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION THIS EVE.  ALSO...DECENT FRONTOGENESIS WILL
MOVE ACRS THE NRN BLACK HILLS THIS EVE.  THIS IN COMBINATION WITH
GOOD MOISTURE AND UPSLOPE COMPONENT WILL AID IN SNOW
DEVELOPMENT...HOWEVER LOOKS LIKE THESE FEATURES WILL ONLY LINE UP
FOR APPROX 4-6 HOURS.  THIS SHOULD KEEP ACCUMULATIONS UNDER ADVISORY
CRITERIA. 700MB TEMPS DROP TO AROUND -10C BY 03Z.

WED WILL BE WINDY AND MUCH COOLER.  WEAK SHORT WAVE MAY BRING AFTN
SHRA/SN TO NRN ZONES.  DRY NW FLOW THEN WILL BRING MOSTLY SUNNY
SKIES AND BRIEF WARMUP FOR THU.

FRI STILL LOOKS INTERESTING AS STRONG UPR LOW WORKS INTO THE
CNTRL/SRN ROCKIES.  PROGGED TRACK OF SFC LOW SHOULD KEEP HEAVIEST
BAND OF PCPN JUST S OF CWFA...BUT THIS WILL BEAR CLOSE MONITORING AS
COLD AIR WILL BE IN PLACE.

EXTENDED...CONTINUED UNSETTLED AND COOL WX THRU MAJORITY OF PD AS
SERIES OF COLD UPR LOWS WORK ACRS NRN PLAINS. LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE
A WHILE UNTIL SPRING RETURNS.

.UNR...WIND ADVISORY THIS EVE NWRN SD.
JOHNSON

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

14 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Northern Foot Hills

When: April 23, 2:32 PM MST to 4:45 PM MST
Where: Northern Foot Hills forecast zone
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.359, -103.792 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Butte

When: April 23, 2:34 PM MST to 3:00 PM MST
Where: Butte forecast zone
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.906, -103.508 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Harding

When: April 23, 2:56 PM MST
Where: Harding forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.580, -103.496 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Meade Co. Plains

When: April 23, 3:43 PM MST to 5:32 PM MST
Where: Meade Co. Plains forecast zone
Measured: 68 kt (78 mph)
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.567, -102.717 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Pennington Plains

When: April 23, 3:44 PM MST
Where: Pennington Plains forecast zone
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.004, -102.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Perkins

When: April 23, 3:45 PM MST to 3:53 PM MST
Where: Perkins forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.491, -102.476 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Central Foot Hills

When: April 23, 3:56 PM MST to 4:06 PM MST
Where: Central Foot Hills forecast zone
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.004, -102.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Custer Plains

When: April 23, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Custer Plains forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.678, -103.451 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Ziebach

When: April 23, 4:45 PM MST to 5:00 PM MST
Where: Ziebach forecast zone
Measured: 71 kt (82 mph)
Property damage: $100
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.980, -101.666 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Haakon

When: April 23, 5:09 PM MST
Where: Haakon forecast zone
Measured: 51 kt (59 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.294, -101.540 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Jackson

When: April 23, 5:30 PM MST
Where: Jackson forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.694, -101.628 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Oglala Lakota

When: April 23, 6:00 PM MST
Where: Oglala Lakota forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.336, -102.552 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Mellette

When: April 23, 6:15 PM MST
Where: Mellette forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.581, -100.760 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Bennett

When: April 23, 6:45 PM MST
Where: Bennett forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.195, -101.664 (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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in South Dakota, April 2002

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: 5290138, 5290135, 5290133, 5290136, 5290141, 5290134, 5290139, 5290140, 5290137, 5290142, 5290144, 5290143, 5290146, 5290145.