Hail in South Dakota, July 17, 2003

Name: Hail in South Dakota, July 17, 2003
Start: 2003-07-17T18:50
End: 2003-07-17T20:35
Location: South Dakota

July 17, 2003 · NWS UNR · 9 events in 2 counties and zones

A large supercell thunderstorm moved southward from North Dakota and through Harding and northern Butte Counties. There were numerous reports of golf ball to baseball sized hail across central Harding County from the Ludlow to Redig areas.

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: $11,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

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.

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 17, 12:20 PM MST, 6 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 17, 12:20 PM MST, 6 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
120 PM MDT THU JUL 17 2003

19Z SURFACE ANALYSIS HAD WEAK LOW NEAR SUNDANCE AND A BOUNDARY FROM
SOUTHEAST MT THROUGH CENTRAL NE. MOISTURE POOLING ALONG
BOUNDARY...BUT STRENGTH OF CAP A CONCERN PER 18Z RUC. LAUNCHING
SPECIAL SOUNDING THIS HOUR TO ASSESS. UP TO 35M/S SHEAR IS FORECAST
WITH MLCAPE UP TO 3.5KJ/KG. SHOULD SEE A COUPLE SUPERCELLS DEVELOP
OFF OR NEAR THE HILLS THIS AFTERNOON AND THEN MOVE SOUTHEAST AROUND
25 MPH. BOUNDARY WILL SINK SOUTHWEST TONIGHT...PROVIDING FOCUS FOR
MOST ACTIVE TSRA ACTIVITY. LOWS AROUND DEW POINTS...CLOSE TO
GUIDANCE.

FRIDAY...IT WILL BE SLIGHTLY COOLER THAN TODAY AS SLIGHT THERMAL
TROUGH MOVES THROUGH ALOFT. BOUNDARY WILL BEGIN TO MOVE NORTH OVER
CWA PROVIDING FOCUS FOR AFTERNOON/EVENING CONVECTION.
SHEAR/INSTABILITY NOT AS GREAT...BUT ACTIVE THUNDERSTORMS STILL
POSSIBLE. HIGHS TRICKY...BUT A MIX OF POTENTIAL
TEMPERATURES/GUIDANCE APPEAR REASONABLE GIVEN LOWER TROPOSPHERIC
THERMODYNAMIC PROFILE.

SATURDAY/SUNDAY...UPPER RIDGE OVER CENTRAL US WILL MOVE OVER THE
ROCKIES PUTTING US IN MORE NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT...BRINGING COOLER
AND DRIER AIR INTO THE AREA. DIURNALLY DRIVEN TSRA AGAIN POSSIBLE.

MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...EARLIER MEDIUM RANGE GUIDANCE SUGGESTS
DRIER PATTER BUT MOST RECENT GFS SUGGESTING RIDGE WILL BE FURTHER
WEST PUTTING US IN MORE ACTIVE NORTHWEST FLOW. IF THIS IS THE
CASE...DRY FORECAST WILL BE WRONG. WILL WAIT FOR FURTHER RUNS TO
MAKE CHANGE. ACTIVE PATTERN SHOULD RETURN THURSDAY.

.UNR...NONE.

HELGESON

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 17, 8:50 AM MST, 10 hours before

SDZ001-002-012>014-024>032-041>044-046-047-049-072>074-WYZ054>058-
071-181300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
950 AM MDT THU JUL 17 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 NORTHEASTERN
WYOMING AND WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE MAIN
THREATS FROM ANY SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WIND GUSTS...HOWEVER...AN ISOLATED TORNADO IS ALSO POSSIBLE TO THE
NORTH AND EAST OF THE BLACK HILLS. IN ADDITION...A FEW STORMS MAY
PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...ESPECIALLY OVER THE BLACK HILLS.

A VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE WILL REMAIN OVER WESTERN SOUTH
DAKOTA TODAY. A STORM SYSTEM IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE WILL COMBINE
WITH A WARM FRONT OVER WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA TO TRIGGER THUNDERSTORMS
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE FIRST STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO FORM
OVER THE BLACK HILLS AFTER 200 PM MDT...AND OTHER STORMS SHOULD
BEGIN DEVELOPING ON THE PLAINS AROUND 400 PM MDT. THUNDERSTORMS ARE
THEN EXPECTED TO PERSIST WELL INTO THE EVENING HOURS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS
FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TODAY.

BUNKERS

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 17, 3:13 PM MST, 3 hours 37 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
413 PM MDT THU JUL 17 2003

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

0250 PM    JOHNSON SIDING            SD   1.5 INCH HAIL
07/17/03   PENNINGTON                     REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0310 PM    1 SE PACTOLA RESERVOIR    SD   1.5 INCH HAIL
07/17/03   PENNINGTON                     REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

0404 PM    MOUNT RUSHMORE            SD   1.75 INCH HAIL
07/17/03   PENNINGTON                     REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

0406 PM    6 W HERMOSA               SD   2.5 INCH HAIL
07/17/03   CUSTER                         REPORTED BY PUBLIC. FEW
                                          TENNIS BALLS...LOTS OF
                                          MARBLES.

Local storm report, Jul 17, 6:21 PM MST, 29 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

9 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Harding

When: July 17, 6:50 PM MST
Where: Harding County, 7 mi SE of Ladner
Measured: 2.5 in hail
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.767, -103.633

Hail, Harding

When: July 17, 7:00 PM MST
Where: Harding County, 8 mi NE of Buffalo
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 45.667, -103.433

Hail, Harding

When: July 17, 7:00 PM MST
Where: Harding County, 3 mi SSE of Ludlow
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.800, -103.367

Hail, Harding

When: July 17, 7:21 PM MST
Where: Harding County, 16 mi SE of Buffalo
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.417, -103.317

Hail, Harding

When: July 17, 7:40 PM MST
Where: Harding County, 11 mi NE of Redig
Measured: 2.5 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.383, -103.383

Hail, Harding

When: July 17, 7:50 PM MST to 8:00 PM MST
Where: Harding County, 7 mi E of Redig
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.267, -103.400

Large hail damaged the roof of a house.

Hail, Harding

When: July 17, 7:55 PM MST
Where: Harding County, 16 mi E of Redig
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 45.267, -103.217

Hail, Butte

When: July 17, 8:15 PM MST
Where: Butte County, 5 mi N of Hoover
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.183, -103.267

Hail, Butte

When: July 17, 8:35 PM MST
Where: Butte County, 6 mi NE of Castle Rock
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 45.033, -103.350

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 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5373012, 5373013, 5373014, 5373015, 5373016, 5373017, 5373018, 5373019, 5373020.