Hail in South Dakota, May 7, 2002

Name: Hail in South Dakota, May 7, 2002
Start: 2002-05-07T15:43
End: 2002-05-07T15:43
Location: South Dakota

May 7, 2002 · NWS UNR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Several thunderstorms developed over Tripp County about an hour after a previous severe storm moved across the county. One of these storms produced large hail around Winner.

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: 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 happened

The episode as NWS UNR wrote it up.

Several thunderstorms developed over Tripp County about an hour after a previous severe storm moved across the county. One of these storms produced large hail around Winner.

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 May 7, 2:40 PM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 7, 2:40 PM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
240 PM MDT TUE MAY 7 2002

MAIN FCST PROB IS TNGT WITH PRECIP TYPE ACRS NW SD. E-SE SFC WINDS
ADVECTING DEW POINTS IN THE MID TO UPR 30S INTO NW SD ATTM. EXPECT
THESE WINDS TO CONTINUE TO AROUND 06Z AND START TO SHIFT TO THE N.
BEFORE THE WINDS SHIFT THOUGH...BASED ON KRAP 18Z SOUNDING AND FCST
UPR LVL TEMPS...MOST OF THE PRECIP BEFORE 06Z ACRS ENTIRE CWA SHLD
BE ALL RAIN. AFTER MIDNIGHT...COLDER AIR STARTS TO FILTER IN AND AS
WINDS SHIFT TO THE N...LWR DEW POINTS WILL MOVE INTO THE NW. LKS
LIKE THERE WL BE A PERIOD WHERE SOME SLEET COULD OCCUR AND THEN
CHANGE OVER TO SNOW. SOME AREAS MAY SEE UP TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW BY
MRNG. WL ISSUE A WINTER WX ADVISORY FOR MIXED PRECIP OVER THIS AREA.
ELSEWHERE...SOME AREAS OF THE HILLS...ESP HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF NRN
HILLS WL LIKELY SEE SNOW BY MRNG AS WELL BUT DO NOT EXPECT MUCH
ACCUMULATION. ALL RAIN EXPECTED SRN HALF OF CWA. STILL HAVE GD
MOISTURE AROUND IN THE MRNG HRS WED AND WITH H50 TROF AXIS STILL
LAGGING BEHIND THE H70 LO...MAY STILL SEE SOME PRECIP FALL EARLY.
STILL LKS LIKE ALL SNOW N...A MIX CENTRAL AND ALL RAIN S. WINDS WL
ALSO BE A CONCERN AS SFC LO PUSHES INTO MIDWEST AND HI BUILDS INTO
MT. NOT A CLASSIC HIGH WIND SCENARIO...BUT MDLS SHOWING STRONG WINDS
MIXING DOWN IN THE AFTN. HAVE WORDED ZNS WITH 25-35 MPH WITH GUSTS
TO 50 MPH IN USUAL WINDY AREAS. MAY NEED A HIGH WIND WARNING IF
LATER MDL RUNS LK SIMILAR. TEMPS WL ALSO BE COOL AGAIN WITH MOST
AREAS NOT MAKING IT OUT OF THE 40S.

WED NIGHT...SOME MOISTURE TO WRAP AROUND H50 LO AS IT MOVES E OF
AREA. SOME LIFT ALSO PROVIDED ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE LO AND PLENTY
OF COLD AIR TO GET SOME SHSN GOING IN THE NW. WINDS WL
CONTINUE...BUT GRADUALLY DIE OFF THROUGH THE NIGHT. LOWS WL LIKELY
MAKE IT TO FREEZING A LTL BELOW BY MRNG. THU...HIGH PUSHES OFF TO
THE E AND WE GET SOME RETURN FLOW ACRS CWA AND A WARMING TREND.
HIGHS SHLD MAKE IT INTO THE LWR TO MID 50S...A LTL ABV MOS BASED ON
H85 TEMPS AND PLENTY OF SUN. NEXT CHC FOR PRECIP COMES FRI AS NEXT
TROF DIGS INTO NRN UT/SRN ID. CHC FOR TSRA AS INITIAL S/W MOVES THRU
WITH SE SFC WINDS BRINGING UP GD AMOUNT OF MOISTURE.

IN THE EXTENDED...RAIN CONTINUES INTO SAT AS UPR LO MOVES ACRS CWA
WITH COOL TEMPS ONCE AGAIN. GRADUAL WARMING TREND THRU TUE AS RDG
BUILDS ACRS THE W AND MOVES INTO REGION. THERE IS A CHC FOR TSMS
LATE MON AND TUE AS RDG AXIS MOVES E OF CWA AND SW FLOW RETURNS.

.UNR...WNTR WX ADV FAR NW SD TNGT.

JMG

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 7, 3:04 PM CST, 39 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
304 PM MDT TUE MAY 07 2002

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

0230 PM    7 E CLEARFIELD            SD   .75 INCH HAIL
05/07/02   TRIPP                          SPOTTER REPORT

0245 PM    MILLBORO                  SD   .88 INCH HAIL
05/07/02   TRIPP                          SPOTTER REPORTED

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Tripp

When: May 7, 3:43 PM CST
Where: Tripp County, 1 mi S of Winner
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.350, -99.867

What these are

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 Warnings in South Dakota, May 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: 5291554.