1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 Aberdeen, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 22, 9:45 AM CST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR CENTRAL/N-EAST SD AND W-CENTRAL MN NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD 1045 AM CDT THU AUG 22 2002 MID LEVEL WAVE SHOWING UP NICELY ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY WILL PUSH THROUGH CWA THIS AFTERNOON. SOME CONCERN FOR RAINFALL TOTALS THIS MORNING WITH VERY WEAK MID LEVEL FLOW...BUT RETURNS BECOMING MORE PROGRESSIVE AS MID LEVEL WAVE CONTINUES MOVING NORTHEAST. 12Z ETA SEEMS TO HAVE FAIRLY GOOD HANDLE ON MID LEVEL WAVE BUT DOING A POORER JOB WITH QPF. PWATS ACROSS CWA STILL HOVERING AROUND 1.50 INCHES OR SLIGHTLY GREATER...BUT EXPECT SOME LOW AND MID LEVEL DRYING ACROSS WESTERN CWA AS MID LEVEL TROUGH AXIS MOVES INTO EASTERN PORTIONS OF CWA. TEMPERATURES LOOK TO BE IN GOOD SHAPE WITH JUST SLIGHT DOWNWARD ADJUSTMENT IN AREAS WHICH LOOK TO SEE BRUNT OF PRECIPITATION THIS AFTERNOON. ALSO BUMPED UP POPS SLIGHTLY ACROSS CENTRAL CWA FOR THIS AFTERNOON. UPDATED ZONES HAVE BEEN SENT. .ABR...NONE. MARSILI
The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 16 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:27 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rains of 2 to 3 inches fell in an around Aberdeen and caused numerous roads to be flooded with a few cars stalling. Also, some buildings had water in them up to 2 inches deep.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Dakota in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, August 2002
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: 5315973.