1 lightning, 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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 7, 2:20 PM CST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR SOUTHEAST SD/SOUTHWEST MN/NORTHWEST IA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 320 PM CDT TUE MAY 7 2002 LOW LVL LIFTING BOUNDARY SOUTH OF CWA...BUT STG MID LVL BOUNDARY LIFTING WELL NORTH INTO CWA TNGT...WITH ABUNDANT GULF MOISTURE ON NOCTURNAL JET. THUS SEE NOT ONLY CHC SVR TSTMS FAR SERN CWA NEAR GOOD LOW LVL INSTABILITY...BUT CHC ELEVATED SVR FURTHER N IN CWA DURG NGT. AS MID SHIFT MENTIONED...AVN MODEL THE BEST WITH NO WIERD SOUTH/NORTH...DRY/WET BIASES. UNSURE HOW FAR WARM SECTOR WILL GET INTO NWRN IA WED...SO WILL COMPROMISE BTWN WARM/COOL FWC/MAV. ALSO DRY SLOT INTO SRN CWA FOR WED AFTN AND EVE...WITH COOL WINDY WRAPAROUND CLDS/SCT LGT PRECIP FOR MAINLY NRN CWA LATE WED INTO THU. NOT MUCH TIME FOR DISC ATTM WITH NEW WATCH IN SRN CWA...BUT NEXT MAIN CHC...WILL GO LKLY...WILL BE SAT...BUT BASICALLY DRY THEREAFTER. MRF SHOWS PSBLY SOMETHING TUE...BUT OTHER/NEW MODELS SLOWER AND WEAKER. OVERALL WARMING TREND FRI THRU TUE. .FSD...NONE. RYRHOLM
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
426 PM CDT TUE MAY 07 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0415 PM 7 NW PLATTE SD .88 INCH HAIL
05/07/02 CHARLES MIX EVENT DURATION 5
MINUTES. REPORTED BY
STORM SPOTTER.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
451 PM CDT TUE MAY 07 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0440 PM 6 SSE WHITE LAKE SD .75 INCH HAIL
05/07/02 AURORA REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.
0445 PM 6 SSE WHITE LAKE SD .75 INCH HAIL
05/07/02 AURORA REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
512 PM CDT TUE MAY 07 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0455 PM 10 N FORESTBURG SD .75 INCH HAIL
05/07/02 SANBORN REPORTED BY PUBLIC.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
517 PM CDT TUE MAY 07 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0510 PM 7 NNW MT VERNON SD .75 INCH HAIL
05/07/02 DAVISON REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
533 PM CDT TUE MAY 07 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0515 PM 1 W LETCHER SD .75 INCH HAIL
05/07/02 SANBORN REPORTED BY PUBLIC.
EVENT DURATION 2 MINUTES.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
624 PM CDT TUE MAY 07 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0520 PM LETCHER SD .5 INCH HAIL
05/07/02 SANBORN REPORTED BY PUBLIC.
HAIL COVERING THE
GROUND. EVENT DURATION
20 MINUTES.
0552 PM 4 SSW WHITE LAKE SD .75 INCH HAIL
05/07/02 AURORA HAIL COVERING GROUND.
REPORTED BY PUBLIC.
0615 PM 7 SE PARKSTON SD .88 INCH HAIL
05/07/02 HUTCHINSON REPORTED BY PUBLIC.
HAIL COVERING GROUND.The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:28 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck the roof of a house, knocking a hole in the roof. The lightning shorted out attic wiring, television sets, and a stove. The lightning also damaged a gas line or meter, causing the house to fill with natural gas.
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, May 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: 5295699.