A strong cold front moved across Western South Dakota during the evening hours. Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph, with gusts to around 60 mph, developed across Northwest South Dakota during the evening and continued through the overnight hours.
Every event with a place to put it; 12 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 strong cold front moved across Western South Dakota during the evening hours. Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph, with gusts to around 60 mph, developed across Northwest South Dakota during the evening and continued through the overnight hours.
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 Dec 11, 2:15 PM MST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
215 PM MST SAT DEC 11 2004
.DISCUSSION...CURRENT ANALYSIS HAS STRONG SURFACE LOW ACROSS
SOUTHERN MANITOBA...WITH TRAILING COLD FRONT JUST ENTERING NORTHERN
MONTANA AND NORTH DAKOTA. WINDS AHEAD OF THE FRONT HAVE BEEN STRONG
OUT OF THE WEST TO SOUTHWEST AT 25 TO 40 MPH. TEMPS HAVE WARMED INTO
THE 50S AND 60S IN THE WARM SECTOR OF THIS SYSTEM.
TONIGHT AND SUNDAY...REALITY SETS BACK IN AS STRONG COLD FRONT PLOWS
THROUGH THE NORTHERN PLAINS TONIGHT. TIMING LOOKS TO BE AROUND 00Z
FOR ENTRANCE INTO THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF SD...BETWEEN 02-03Z FOR
RAPID CITY...AND AROUND 06Z FOR WINNER. WITH STRONG CAA...40-60KT
WINDS JUST OFF THE SURFACE...AND PRESSURE RISES OF OVER 2 MB PER
HOUR BEHIND THE FRONT...CURRENT HIGHLIGHTS LOOK TO BE IN FINE SHAPE.
WITH CAA AND FAIRLY TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT REMAINING OVER THE AREA
MOST OF SUNDAY...WINDS WILL REMAIN ABOVE ADVISORY CRITERIA THROUGH
AT LEAST THE AFTERNOON. PRECIP CHANCES LOOK BEST SHORTLY AFTER
FRONTAL PASSAGE...FROM THE NORTHERN BLACK HILLS WEST INTO
NORTHEASTERN WYOMING.
.MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD MONDAY
AND TUESDAY BRINGING NEAR NORMAL CONDITIONS. A FAST MOVING UPPER
LEVEL TROUGH MOVES THROUGH THE REGION MID-WEEK WITH ENERGY SPLITTING
INTO AN UPPER LOW OVER SOUTHWEST US AND TROUGH EAST RIVER. WE/LL BE
INBETWEEN WITH ARCTIC AIR EAST OF THE AREA.
&&
.AVIATION...THE COLD FRONT WILL REACH KGCC AROUND 03Z AND KRAP
SHORTLY AFTER 02Z. STRONG WINDS ARE EXPECTED BEHIND THE FRONT.
MOISTURE/DOWNSLOPE WILL LIMIT LOWER CLOUDS OVER KRAP...VFR
CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE. HOWEVER...OVER KGCC LOW LEVEL MOISTURE
COMBINED WITH POST FRONT LIFT WILL RESULT IN A BAND OF MVFR CIGS AND
POSSIBLE IFR VSBYS WITH -SHSN THIS EVENING. PORTIONS OF THE WY TWEB
ROUTES WILL SEE MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS BEHIND THE FRONT WITH VFR
CONDITIONS EXPECTED ON THE SD/ND/NE ROUTES.
&&
.UNR...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.SD...WIND ADVISORY THIS AFTERNOON FOR NORTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA.
HIGH WIND WARNING TONIGHT FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL SOUTH
DAKOTA PLAINS.
WIND ADVISORY LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY FOR SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH
DAKOTA.
WIND ADVISORY SUNDAY FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL SOUTH
DAKOTA PLAINS.
.WY...NONE.
RUDGE/HELGESONHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD 637 AM MST SAT DEC 11 2004 SDZ001-002-012>014-024>032-041>044-046-047-049-072>074-WYZ054>058- 071-121337- BENNETT-BUTTE-CENTRAL BLACK HILLS-CUSTER CO PLAINS-FALL RIVER-HAAKON- HARDING-HERMOSA FOOT HILLS-JACKSON-MELLETTE-NORTHEASTERN CROOK- NORTHERN BLACK HILLS-NORTHERN CAMPBELL-NORTHERN FOOT HILLS- NORTHERN MEADE CO PLAINS-PENNINGTON CO PLAINS-PERKINS-RAPID CITY- SHANNON-SOUTHERN BLACK HILLS-SOUTHERN CAMPBELL-SOUTHERN FOOT HILLS- SOUTHERN MEADE CO PLAINS-STURGIS/PIEDMONT FOOT HILLS-TODD-TRIPP- WESTERN CROOK-WESTON-WYOMING BLACK HILLS-ZIEBACH- 637 AM MST (737 AM CST) SAT DEC 11 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA AND NORTHEASTERN WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR NORTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON AS WINDS INCREASE AHEAD OF A STRONG COLD FRONT. ACROSS NORTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA...WEST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 25 TO 35 MPH THIS AFTERNOON...WITH SOME GUSTS TO 50 MPH POSSIBLE. FOR TONIGHT...A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL RACE QUICKLY ACROSS WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA THIS EVENING...EXITING SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA AROUND MIDNIGHT. A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR TONIGHT ACROSS THE NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA PLAINS...WHERE NORTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE BEHIND THE FRONT TO 30 TO 45 MPH...WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 60 MPH. A WIND ADVISORY IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR LATE TONIGHT ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA...WHERE NORTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE AFTER MIDNIGHT TO 25 TO 35 MPH...WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH. SOME RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE TONIGHT...MAINLY ACROSS NORTHEAST WYOMING AND THE NORTHERN BLACK HILLS. SOME MINOR SNOW ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE NORTHERN BLACK HILLS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR SUNDAY ACROSS MOST OF THE WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA PLAINS. WINDS WILL DECREASE SOME ACROSS THE AREA BY SUNDAY MORNING. HOWEVER...A TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE REGION...ALLOWING FOR GUSTY WINDS TO CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON. NORTHWEST WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH...WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 45 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
12 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 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, December 2004
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: 5428622, 5428627, 5428623, 5428624, 5428632, 5428626, 5428628, 5428629, 5428630, 5428633, 5428625, 5428631.