Tornadoes in South Dakota, June 23, 2002

Name: Tornadoes in South Dakota, June 23, 2002
Start: 2002-06-23T18:20
End: 2002-06-23T19:55
Location: South Dakota

June 23, 2002 · NWS ABR · 7 events in 2 counties and zones

A powerful supercell thunderstorm produced six tornados from eastern McPherson county and across northern Brown county during the evening hours of June 23rd. 4 miles northeast of Leola and resulted in no damage.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 ABR wrote it up.

A powerful supercell thunderstorm produced six tornados from eastern McPherson county and across northern Brown county during the evening hours of June 23rd. The first weak tornado (F0) touched down briefly 6.4 miles northeast of Leola and resulted in no damage. The second tornado (F1) touched down 8.5 miles northeast of Leola and crossed over into Brown county where it dissipated 9 miles northwest of Barnard. This tornado brought down many trees and a barn and caused damage to the siding and the roof of a farmhouse in McPherson county and caused no damage in Brown county. A third weak satellite tornado (F0) occurred following the dissipation of the second tornado and resulted in no damage. A fourth strong tornado (F3) developed 6 miles west of Barnard and moved east and dissipated 3 miles southeast of Barnard. This tornado brought down some high power lines along with a support tower and tossed a pickup truck 100 yards into a group of trees. The pickup truck was totaled. The tornado caused extensive damage to two farmhouses, several farm buildings, and farm equipment. One farmhouse lost its garage and most of its roof with many trees completely snapped off down low and debarked. The fifth tornado developed 5 miles southeast of Barnard and became a violent tornado (F4). This tornado caused damage to one farmhouse, several outbuildings, trees, and equipment as it moved northeast and strengthened. The tornado then completely demolished two unoccupied homes, several outbuildings, many trees, along with destroying or damaging some farm equipment before dissipating 7.6 miles northeast of Barnard. Also, a sixth weak satellite tornado (F0) occurred with this violent tornado and caused no damage. This was the first F4 tornado recorded in Brown county and one of few recorded in South Dakota. The total estimated property loss exceeded a million dollars.

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 Aberdeen, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 23, 2:25 PM CST, 3 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 23, 2:25 PM CST, 3 hours 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR CENTRAL/N-EAST SD AND W-CENTRAL MN
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
325 PM CDT SUN JUN 23 2002

UPPER TROUGH OVER NE MT WILL CONTINUE TO SLIDE NE INTO S CANADA AND
WEAKEN QUITE A BIT OVER THE NEXT 24 HRS. A WK S/W LOBE MOVG AROUND
THIS TROUGH WILL MOVE ACROSS THE DAKOTAS TONIGHT. ALSO...THE LL
WINDS ACROSS THE ABR CWA WILL TURN FROM SE TO SW TO W THROUGH THE
NIGHT AS A WARM FRONT LIFTS NORTHWARD AND A WEAK COLD FRONT MOVES
INTO THE CWA FROM THE WEST. SCT TSRAS OCCURRING ACROSS SE AND EC SD
AND IN NW SD AND SW ND WILL SPREAD/DEVELOP INTO NC AND NE SD AND WC
MN THROUGH THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT AS THE WARM FRONT/LL CONVERGENT
AREA LIFTS VERY UNSTABLE AIR ACROSS THIS AREA. LIS DOWN TO -10 THIS
AFTN AND DWPTS IN THE UPPER 60S TO THE LOWER 70S. THE LAPS CIN HAS
DROPPED TO BELOW 50 ACROSS MUCH OF THE NORTHERN PART OF THE ABR CWA
THIS AFTN. ALSO...GOOD WIND SHEAR PROFILE FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE
STORMS. THE WEAK COLD FRONT PUSHING EAST MAY ALSO KICK OFF SOME
TSRAS ACROSS THE CWA TONIGHT. OTHERWISE...FOR TONIGHT SKIES WILL BE
PARTLY CLOUDY WITH LOWS MOSTLY IN THE 60S. FOR MON...THE ETA SHOWS
THE WK BOUNDARY/TROUGH STALLING ACROSS E SD WAITING FOR THE NEXT S/W
TO MOVE THROUGH MON AFTN AND NIGHT. THEREFORE...BELIEVE THE EASTERN
PART OF THE CWA WILL HAVE A CHC OF TSRAS AGAIN MON AFTN AND NIGHT.
IT WILL BE A VERY WARM BUT LESS HUMID DAY ON MONDAY WITH GENERALLY
NW WINDS OVER MUCH OF THE CWA EXCEPT THE FAR E. TUESDAY SHOULD BE
DRY ACROSS THE ENTIRE CWA AS SFC HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN AND DRIER
AIR FILTERS INTO THE AREA. SKIES WILL BE MOSTLY SUNNY WITH GENERALLY
ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS. IT WILL REMAIN DRY THROUGH WED NIGHT AS DRY N TO
NW WINDS FROM SFC HIGH PRESSURE DOMINATE THE WEATHER WITH CLEAR TO
P/C SKIES.

.EXTENDED DISCUSSION...
NOT MUCH WILL CHANGE FOR THE EXTENDED FORECAST WITH UPPER RIDGE
BUILDING OVR THE ROCKIES AND NORTHERN PLAINS. LOOKS LIKE NEXT WV
WILL MOVE THRU ON SAT...BUT LITTLE MSTR...AND NO CONFIDENCE AT THIS
TIME. LOOK FOR WARM...DRY CONDITIONS THRU EXTND PD.

.ABR...NONE

MOHR/MARSHALL

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 50 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:19 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, McPherson

When: June 23, 6:20 PM CST to 6:22 PM CST
Where: McPherson County, 6 mi NE of Leola
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.2 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Reported by: STORM CHASER
Coordinates: 45.783, -98.850

Tornado, McPherson

When: June 23, 6:34 PM CST to 6:40 PM CST
Where: McPherson County, 9 mi NE of Leola
Rating: F1
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 500 yd
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 45.800, -98.833

Tornado, Brown

When: June 23, 6:40 PM CST to 6:43 PM CST
Where: Brown County, 11 mi NW of Barnard
Rating: F1
Path length: 3 mi
Path width: 500 yd
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 45.850, -98.667

Tornado, Brown

When: June 23, 6:43 PM CST to 6:45 PM CST
Where: Brown County, 9 mi NW of Barnard
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.3 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Reported by: STORM CHASER
Coordinates: 45.833, -98.633

Tornado, Brown

When: June 23, 6:53 PM CST to 7:23 PM CST
Where: Brown County, 6 mi W of Barnard
Rating: F3
Path length: 10 mi
Path width: 900 yd
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 45.733, -98.617

Tornado, Brown

When: June 23, 7:24 PM CST to 7:55 PM CST
Where: Brown County, 5 mi SE of Barnard
Rating: F4
Path length: 9 mi
Path width: 900 yd
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 45.683, -98.433

Tornado, Brown

When: June 23, 7:30 PM CST to 7:32 PM CST
Where: Brown County, 5 mi E of Barnard
Rating: F0
Path width: 50 yd
Reported by: STORM CHASER
Coordinates: 45.733, -98.400

What these are

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.

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, June 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: 5306192, 5306193, 5306194, 5306195, 5306196, 5306197, 5306198.