South Dakota, 2003

Hail in South Dakota, July 1, 2003

July 1, 2003 · NWS UNR · 8 events in 1 county or zone

A severe thunderstorm developed near Keystone and moved northeastward across central and eastern parts of Pennington County. Hail to the size of quarters was reported from Keystone to Rapid City, with a report of ping pong ball sized hail in southeast Rapid City.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
8

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.

A severe thunderstorm developed near Keystone and moved northeastward across central and eastern parts of Pennington County. Hail to the size of quarters was reported from Keystone to Rapid City, with a report of ping pong ball sized hail in southeast Rapid City. As the storm moved into eastern parts of Pennington County, dime sized hail was reported near New Underwood, Caputa, and Creighton.

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 Jul 1, 1:00 PM MST, 5 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 1, 1:00 PM MST, 5 hours 40 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 1, 6:09 AM MST, 12 hours 31 minutes before
SDZ001-002-012>014-024>032-041>044-046-047-049-072>074-WYZ054>058-
071-021300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
709 AM MDT TUE JUL 1 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA AND
NORTHEASTERN WYOMING.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF WESTERN
AND CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE MAIN THREAT
FROM THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE HAIL LARGER THAN 3/4 INCH AND
WIND GUSTS GREATER THAN 60 MPH.

A SURFACE TROUGH AND A WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE ACROSS
NORTHEAST WYOMING AND WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA LATER TODAY. AS
TEMPERATURES RISE WELL INTO THE 90S LATER THIS AFTERNOON...THE
ATMOSPHERE WILL BECOME VERY UNSTABLE. THIS COMBINATION IS EXPECTED
TO RESULT IN SOME THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT LATE THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING. VERY WARM AIR ALOFT SHOULD HELP KEEP THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT MORE ISOLATED. HOWEVER...STORMS THAT DO DEVELOP COULD
QUICKLY BECOME SEVERE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...ESPECIALLY
ACROSS WESTERN AND CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

DAILY CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED OVER PARTS OF NORTHEAST
WYOMING AND WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA FROM FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY...WITH
THE MORE WIDESPREAD ACTIVITY EXPECTED TO BE ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TODAY.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Pennington

When
July 1, 6:40 PM MST
Where
Pennington County, 4 mi SE of Keystone
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.867, -103.367

Hail, Pennington

When
July 1, 6:42 PM MST
Where
Pennington County, Mt Rushmore
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.883, -103.450

Hail, Pennington

When
July 1, 7:00 PM MST
Where
Pennington County, Rockerville
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates
43.950, -103.350

Hail, Pennington

When
July 1, 7:21 PM MST
Where
Pennington County, 4 mi SE of Rapid City
Measured
1.5 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.050, -103.167

Hail, Pennington

When
July 1, 7:30 PM MST
Where
Pennington County, 1 mi W of Caputa
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.000, -103.000

Hail, Pennington

When
July 1, 7:30 PM MST
Where
Pennington County, 3 mi SE of Rapid City
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates
44.050, -103.167

Hail, Pennington

When
July 1, 7:40 PM MST to 7:50 PM MST
Where
Pennington County, 1 mi S of New Underwood
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.083, -102.917

Hail, Pennington

When
July 1, 9:00 PM MST
Where
Pennington County, 4 mi SW of Creighton
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
44.217, -102.250

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

More

Every storm in South Dakota in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, July 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5372580, 5372581, 5372582, 5372583, 5372579, 5372584, 5372643, 5372644.