A cold front passed across western South Dakota during the morning hours. Just behind the front winds became locally sustained around 45 mph with gusts measured to 72 mph around Ellsworth AFB and the Rapid City area.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 episode as NWS UNR wrote it up.
A cold front passed across western South Dakota during the morning hours. Just behind the front winds became locally sustained around 45 mph with gusts measured to 72 mph around Ellsworth AFB and the Rapid City area.
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 Mar 23, 9:40 AM MST, 1 hour 43 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD 940 AM MST SUN MAR 23 2003 COLD FRONT MOVING THRU FAR N AND W CWA AT THIS TIME. 20 TO 30 MPH WINDS NOTED AT 2WX AND GCC WITH FRONTAL PASSAGE. COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE SOUTH AND EAST TODAY...REACHING RAP BY MIDDAY AND SOUTH CENTRAL SD LATE THIS AFT. LARGEST PRESSURE RISES SHOULD STAY JUST NORTH OF THE CWA. EXPECT STRONGEST WINDS TO BE OVER FAR NORTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA LATE THIS MORNING AND EARLY AFT...WHERE GUSTS TO 40 MPH ARE LIKELY. TEMPS AHEAD OF FRONT RISING QUICKLY THRU THE 50S AND INTO THE 60S. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 70S ARE LIKELY FOR A FEW AREAS FROM RAP AREA SOUTH AND EASTWARD. TEMPS SHOULD STAY NEARLY STEADY ACROSS NORTHEAST WY AND FAR NORTHWEST SD FOR THE REST OF TODAY. SCATTERED POST FRONTAL SHOWERS OVER SOUTHEAST MT WILL FOR THE MOST PART STAY NORTH OF THE CWA. FORECAST FOR TODAY IS GENERALLY IN GOOD SHAPE. WILL UPDATE TO MAKE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO WINDS AND TEMPS. SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR THIS AFT ACROSS NORTHEAST WY...NORTHWEST SD AND THE HILLS STILL LOOKS GOOD WITH CAA AND WEAK SHORTWAVE ENERGY PASSING THRU. .UNR...NONE. ST
SDZ001-002-012>014-024>032-041>044-046-047-049-072>074-WYZ054>058- 071-241300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD 547 AM MST SUN MAR 23 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA AND NORTHEASTERN WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SURFACE LOW PRESSURE ASSOCIATED WITH AN UPPER LEVEL STORM IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP OVER WESTERN NEBRASKA WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND MOVE INTO KANSAS ON THURSDAY. THIS WILL BRING A THREAT OF RAIN TO THE REGION ON WEDNESDAY AND A CHANCE OF SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. PLENTY OF COLD AIR IS FORECAST TO BE AVAILABLE WITH THIS STORM...THUS THE THREAT OF SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL WILL INCLUDE ALL OF NORTHEAST WYOMING AND WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA...INCLUDE AREAS ON THE PLAINS.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Dakota in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, March 2003
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: 5346076, 5346077.