Wildfire in South Dakota, April 3 to 6, 2003

Name: Wildfire in South Dakota, April 3 to 6, 2003
Start: 2003-04-03T13:00
End: 2003-04-06T12:00
Location: South Dakota

April 3 to 6, 2003 · NWS ABR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 wildfire, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

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.

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: 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 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 Apr 3, 10:00 AM CST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 3, 10:00 AM CST, 3 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
1000 AM CST THU APR 03 2003

LATEST RUC AND ETA SHOW 7H WAVE/TROF PUSHING NORTH INTO NODAK DURING
THE DAY. STRONG SUBSIDENCE NOTED AT 7H BY 00Z TODAY ACROSS ALL OF
CWA. WITH BEST DYNAMICS NOW LOCATED IN NODAK...HAVE REMOVED ALL
MENTION OF -FZDZ/-SN FOR TODAY. HOWEVER...LOW CLOUDS APPEAR TO BE
LOCKED IN WITH ERLY SFC FLOW TAKING PLACE. ETA COND PRES DEFICITS
INDICATE THAT SOME CLEARING MAY BEGIN LATER THIS AFTN ACROSS THE
WEST...BUT FOR NOW WILL JUST MENTION CLOUDY. WITH ERLY SFC FLOW AND
ABUNDANT LOW CLOUDS...HAVE TRENDED TEMPS DOWN A BIT ACROSS THE SWRN
CWA. TEMPS ACROSS NORTHERN COUNTIES APPEAR TO BE IN THE BALLPARK.

.ABR...NONE.
HINTZ

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 3, 10:10 AM CST, 2 hours 50 minutes before

MNZ039-046-SDZ003>011-015>023-033>037-045-048-051-041100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK  ...CORRECTED...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
1010 AM CST THU APR 3 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL...
NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA...AS WELL AS
BIG STONE AND TRAVERSE COUNTIES IN MINNESOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

AN AREA OF PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS NORTHEAST
SOUTH DAKOTA AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA THROUGHOUT THE DAY. WITH
WARMER AIR ALOFT AND COLD AIR AT THE SURFACE...A MIXED BAG OF
PRECIPITATION WILL BE POSSIBLE TODAY...BUT THE PRECIPITATION IS MOST
LIKELY TO BE IN THE FORM OF SLEET AND/OR SNOW. THIS AREA WILL EXIT
NORTHEASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA BY EARLY AFTERNOON THURSDAY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

A STRONG WINTER STORM WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE MIDSECTION OF THE
COUNTRY SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. ALTHOUGH THE EXACT PATH OF THIS STORM IS
STILL UNCERTAIN...THE POSSIBILITY FOR HEAVY SNOW WILL EXIST ACROSS
THE MIDWEST.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.

ALBRECHT/HINTZ

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Brown

When: April 3, 1:00 PM CST to April 6, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Brown County, 3 mi NE of Bath
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 45.590, -98.352 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dry vegetation along with windy conditions caused a grassland burn northeast of Bath near the James River to get out of control during the early afternoon hours. Strong north to northeast winds of 20 to 35 mph caused the fire to spread quickly south along the James River. The fire became one and a half miles wide and burned six miles to the south before it was brought under control. A total of four thousand acres was burned. The smoke from the fire could be seen from miles around and lowered visibilities enough to close State Highway 12 two different times. One time, traffic had to be diverted on Highway 12 for six hours due to the low visibility in smoke. Also, the Burlington Northern/Sante Fe Railroad was delayed in Bristol and Andover on April 3rd because of the smoke. Twenty-one fire departments with around 250 people worked to bring the fire under control.

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in South Dakota in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in South Dakota, April 2003

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: 5354286.