High Wind in South Dakota, March 27, 2002

Name: High Wind in South Dakota, March 27, 2002
Start: 2002-03-27T16:19
End: 2002-03-27T16:33
Location: South Dakota

March 27, 2002 · NWS UNR · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Winds increased quickly behind a cold front moving through the area. Winds were sustained around 35 to 45 mph with gusts around 70 mph.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

Winds increased quickly behind a cold front moving through the area. Winds were sustained around 35 to 45 mph with gusts around 70 mph.

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 Mar 27, 3:39 PM MST, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 27, 3:39 PM MST, 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
300 PM MST WED MAR 27 2002

CD FNT MOVG THRU AREA THIS AFTN W/ WND GUSTS NEAR HIGH WIND WRNG
CRITERIA ALREADY IN NERN WY.  W/ SHWRS ALSO IN THE AREA...POSSIBLE
TO GET SOME GUSTS ARND 60 MPH W/ MIXING.  WNDS WL GUST FOR JUST A
COUPLE OF HRS BEHIND FNT.  SOM LGT SNW POSSIBLE THIS EVEN IN NWRN SD
AS SYSTEM MOVS ACRS MT-NE...BUT POPS ARE SML.  TMW WL BE COOLER...
THEN A SML WRMG BEFORE THE NEXT SYSTEM SLIDES ACRS NRN PLNS...W/ A
CHC OF SNOW SUN NITE-MON MRNG.  TEMPS DONT REALLY WRM UP MUCH...DO
GET BACK TO NORMALS.

.UNR...HIGH WIND WRNG NERN WY...WND ADVRY WRN SD THIS EVEN.
SANDERS

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Meade Co. Plains

When: March 27, 4:19 PM MST to 4:21 PM MST
Where: Meade Co. Plains forecast zone
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
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: March 27, 4:22 PM MST to 4:33 PM MST
Where: Pennington Plains forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.004, -102.824 (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, March 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: 5286288, 5286287.