South Dakota, 2002

Damaging Wind in South Dakota, August 21, 2002

August 21, 2002 · NWS FSD · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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
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 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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 21, 7:25 PM CST, 3 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 21, 7:25 PM CST, 3 hours 36 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
825 PM CDT WED AUG 21 2002

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER GREGORY COUNTY WEAKENING RAPIDLY WITH JUST
SOME ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE JAMES VALLEY. FRONT STRETCHING
FROM ABOUT VTN TO YKN TO LSE. WATER VAPOR LOOP SHOWING TWO
WAVES...ONE ACROSS CO AND ANOTHER MOVING NORTH INTO SOUTHERN SD.
THIS LIKELY HELPED SPARK THE THUNDERSTORMS BUT PROFILERS NOT SHOWING
ANY BACKING OF THE WINDS SO APPARENTLY FAIRLY WEAK. WITH THE LOW
LEVEL JET VEERED TO THE SOUTHWEST...AND EXPECTED TO VEER FURTHER TO
THE WEST...WE MAY NOT SEE A VERY EXPANSIVE AREA OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT.

WITH THE MAIN WAVE WELL OFF TO OUR WEST...WEAK SHEAR AND VERY LITTLE
LOW LEVEL FORCING EXPECTED...WILL BACK OFF TO ISOLATED TO SCATTERED
WORDING IN FORECAST PACKAGE. BELIEVE THAT THE BEST CONVECTION WILL
BE TO OUR EAST AND SOUTH OVERNIGHT.

.FSD...NONE

08

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 21, 6:21 PM CST, 4 hours 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
721 PM CDT WED AUG 21 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0715 PM    5 N DALLAS                SD   60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/21/02   GREGORY                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC.
                                          TREE BRANCHES DOWN.

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 169 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:00 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jerauld

When
August 21, 11:01 PM CST
Where
Jerauld County, 15 mi SW of Wessington Spgs
Measured
57 kt (66 mph)
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
43.933, -98.783

Thunderstorm winds caused crop damage, including sunflower fields flattened.

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

More

Every storm in South Dakota in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, August 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: 5317673.