Name: Hail in South Dakota, July 8, 2003
Start: 2003-07-08T08:15
End: 2003-07-08T09:10
Location: South Dakota

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: 3

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 supercell thunderstorm developed across southern Perkins County during the mid morning hours and tracked southeastward across northern Ziebach County. Hail to the size of golf balls fell across northern Ziebach County.

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 8, 1:55 AM MST, 6 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 8, 1:55 AM MST, 6 hours 20 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 8, 5:00 AM MST, 3 hours 15 minutes before

SDZ001-002-012>014-024>032-041>044-046-047-049-072>074-WYZ054>058-
071-091300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
600 AM MDT TUE JUL 8 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING OVER MOST OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA...WITH A
SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHEASTERN WYOMING.

THE MAIN THREAT FROM THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE HAIL LARGER
THAN 3/4 INCH AND WIND GUSTS GREATER THAN 60 MPH. TORNADOES ARE ALSO
POSSIBLE...MAINLY OVER THE PLAINS OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

A VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL TRACK INTO THE NORTHERN
PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP
THIS AFTERNOON OVER NORTHEASTERN WYOMING AND THE BLACK HILLS...THEN
MOVE EASTWARD ACROSS THE SOUTH DAKOTA PLAINS THROUGH THE EVENING
HOURS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY LARGE
HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. A FEW TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE...
MAINLY OVER THE PLAINS OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA. THE
THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL DIMINISH LATER THIS EVENING AS
STORMS TRACK INTO EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA.

THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE VERY DANGEROUS WEATHER CONDITIONS. TAKE
TIME TO REVIEW YOUR SEVERE WEATHER PLANS. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER
RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR UPDATED FORECASTS...THEN TAKE SHELTER IF
WARNINGS ARE ISSUED FOR YOUR LOCATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THE NEXT BEST CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS IS NOT EXPECTED UNTIL LATE IN
THE WEEKEND.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED TODAY.

JOHNSON

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Perkins

When: July 8, 8:15 AM MST
Where: Perkins County, 3 mi SE of Coal Spgs
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 45.417, -102.050

Hail, Ziebach

When: July 8, 9:02 AM MST
Where: Ziebach County, 5 mi NW of Thunder Butte
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 45.267, -101.717

Hail, Ziebach

When: July 8, 9:10 AM MST
Where: Ziebach County, Thunder Butte
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 45.217, -101.650

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 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5372876, 5372877, 5372878.