Tornado and Hail in South Dakota, August 9, 2002

Name: Tornado and Hail in South Dakota, August 9, 2002
Start: 2002-08-09T16:45
End: 2002-08-09T17:00
Location: South Dakota

August 9, 2002 · NWS FSD · 3 events in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 hail, 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: 1
Property damage: $1.1 million
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 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 9, 2:30 PM CST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 9, 2:30 PM CST, 2 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
330 PM CDT FRI AUG 9 2002

SFC TROF HANGING IN THERE FM ERN DKTS TO CNTRL NE ATTM AND WILL BE
FOCAL POINT FOR MORE TSTM DVLPMT THIS EVE. FIRST ROUND OF TSTMS IN
CNTRL SD MAINLY ASSCD WITH LEFT FNT QUAD OF JET MAX MOVG INTO CNTRL
NE. EXPCT RRQ OF JET MAX TO FIRE TSTMS IN CNTRL NE TO SCNTRL SD
EARLY TNGT...WHICH SHOULD RAPIDLY DVLP NEWD OVR CWA THIS EVE...
LINGERING IN ERN CWA LATE TNGT. WILL GO MORE WITH AVN MODEL IN THIS
REGARD...WITH LKLY POPS TNGT. NOTHING EXCPT SC AND BRISK WNWLY WNDS
MAIN NERN HLF CWA FOR MIDDAY SAT...BUT THEN WARM ADV...CLRG AND LGTR
WNDS EXPCD BY LATE AFTN. MOST GUID TEMPS SEEM ON THE WARM SIDE THRU
WEEKEND...AND WILL SHADE BACK SOME. BUT EXPCT BTR MIXING TO
POTENTIAL THAN LAST COUPLE OF DAYS. BRISK RETURN SLY FLW SHOULD
BRING BACK GULF MOISTURE INTO AREA BY SUN NGT AHEAD OF STG WAVE...
WHICH AMERICAN MODELS STILL SEEM TOO FAST WITH. WENT MORE WITH
CANADIAN SPCTRL AND UKMET WITH A LIT SLOWER TIMING OF FNT AND SCT
SHWRS AND TSTMS FOR SUN NGT INTO MON. WENT WITH COOL TREND FOR TUE
THRU FRI. THERE IS A CHC OF SHWRS WITH VARIOUS WEAK WAVES IN THE
FLOW DURG EXTD...BUT ALL MODELS KIND OF DIFFERENT AND CONFIDENCE
LOW...AND WILL LV OUT.

.FSD...NONE
RYRHOLM

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 172 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

1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Gregory

When: August 9, 4:45 PM CST
Where: Gregory County, Herrick
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.117, -99.183

Thunderstorm winds caused damage to trees and power lines.

Tornado, Gregory

When: August 9, 4:45 PM CST to 4:50 PM CST
Where: Gregory County, 1 mi W of Herrick
Rating: F2
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Property damage: $1.0 million
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.117, -99.200

A tornado destroyed a church, a county highway shop, several garages, several small sheds, a mobile home, a camper, and a ten thousand bushel silo. The church was ripped from its foundation, with debris and contents blown over a wide area. Tree damage includes uprooted trees, and power lines were blown down. A resulting power outage lasted for several hours. Windows in many homes and some businesses were broken. The Herrick Honey House was severely damaged, and a honey truck was tipped over. Holes were punched in the walls of some houses by flying debris.

Hail, Gregory

When: August 9, 4:50 PM CST to 5:00 PM CST
Where: Gregory County, 1 mi W of Herrick
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 43.117, -99.200

Large hail, driven by severe winds, broke windows in vehicles and buildings, and cause other damage to vehicles. A man was slightly injured when he was hit by hail while sitting in his pickup, after the hail had broken the window. Some area crops, already described to be in poor shape, were totally destroyed by the wind driven hail. The amount of crop damage was not known. The hail accumulated up to six inches, with drifts to two feet.

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.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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 The tornado archive for South Dakota, 2002 Warnings 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: 5312529, 5312530, 5312531.