Flash Flood in South Dakota, June 16, 2004

Name: Flash Flood in South Dakota, June 16, 2004
Start: 2004-06-16T04:20
End: 2004-06-16T07:30
Location: South Dakota

June 16, 2004 · NWS FSD · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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: $10 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 16, 2:05 AM CST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 16, 2:05 AM CST, 2 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR SOUTHEAST SD/SOUTHWEST MN/NORTHWEST IA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
305 AM CDT WED JUN 16 2004

.DISCUSSION...

BOUNDRY STILL SLIPPING SLWLY OVER SERN CRNR OF FCST AREA AND EXPCT
SHWRS AND TSTMS TO INCRS THIS MRNG THAT AREA WITH POTENTL FOR HVY
RAIN. HWVR GFS LOOKS OVERDONE ON RAINFALL AMTS. THO ETA MAY BE
UNDERDOME THIS AREA DO NOT EXPCT SIGNFCNT FLOODING THREAT FOR NOW.
WITH TIME HVY RAIN THREAT WILL BCM EVEN MORE CONSOLODATED S OF
AREA.

IN CONTRAST TO HVY RAIN THREAT...LESS INTENSE AND CONCENTRATED
ACTVTY EXPCT TO MOVE OVER MUCH OF FCST AREA TDA WITH PLENTY OF UPPER
SUPPORT. THIS ACTVTY SHUD CONT TNGT AS ANOTHER WV OR TWO MOVE OVER
AREA...THEN SHUD END IN THE SE THU MRNG. A BREAK IN PCPN AND AT
LEAST PARTIAL CLRNG CAN BE EXPCTED REST OF THU INTO ERY FRI.

MODELS FAIRLY CONSISTENT WITH LATE FRI AND FRI NGT THREAT FOR
SHWRS/TSTMS WITH ANOTHER IMPLS EXPECTED. LAC OF THE STGR DRYING IN
BETTER NWRLY FLOW SHOWS A CPL OR THREE DAYS AGO WILL KEEP THIS
THREAT IN.

WE CUD HAVE THE SAME PRBLM FOR EXTNDED PD AS STG DRY PATTRN NEVER
REALLY GETS ESTABLISHED. DECENT SHRTWV OVER NRN ROCKIES ON GFS FOR
SUN CUD BRING PCPN THREAT ERY IN THE WEEK...OR IT CUD BE SUPPRESSED
BY NRN BRANCH. FOR NWO WILL KEEP PCPN FREE FCST FOR LAST FEW
DAYS.

TEMPS WILL BE OUT COOL TDA WITH COOL LO LVL FLOW AND CLD CVR. WE
SHUD STAY ON THE RELTVLY COOL END OF TEMPS FOR A WHILE IN THIS
PATTERN WITH WARMING PSBL BY END OF PD WHICH IS TUE. IN ANY EVENT NO
SCORCHERS THRU FCST PD.

&&

.FSD...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SD...NONE.
MN...NONE.
IA...NONE.
NE...NONE.

&&

WILLIAMS

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 15, 10:31 AM CST, 17 hours 49 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
1131 AM CDT TUE JUN 15 2004

SDZ038>040-050-052>071-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097-098-
IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032-NEZ013-014-161200-
AURORA-BEADLE-BON HOMME-BROOKINGS-BRULE-BUENA VISTA IA-
CHARLES MIX-CHEROKEE IA-CLAY-CLAY IA-COTTONWOOD MN-DAKOTA NE-
DAVISON-DICKINSON IA-DIXON NE-DOUGLAS-GREGORY-HANSON-HUTCHINSON-
IDA IA-JACKSON MN-JERAULD-KINGSBURY-LAKE-LINCOLN-LINCOLN MN-
LYON IA-LYON MN-MCCOOK-MINER-MINNEHAHA-MOODY-MURRAY MN-NOBLES MN-
OBRIEN IA-OSCEOLA IA-PIPESTONE MN-PLYMOUTH IA-ROCK MN-SANBORN-
SIOUX IA-TURNER-UNION-WOODBURY IA-YANKTON-
1131 AM CDT TUE JUN 15 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA...
SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...NORTHWEST IOWA...AND NORTHEAST NEBRASKA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORMS...
THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE ENTIRE
AREA...LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO
PROGRESS TO THE EAST ACROSS SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA AND NORTHWEST
IOWA MIDDAY...BUT ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AFTER 5 PM ALONG A FRONTAL
BOUNDARY WEST OF THE JAMES RIVER.  STORMS WILL BECOME MORE
WIDESPREAD AS THEY SPREAD TO THE EAST AND SOUTHEAST DURING THE
EARLY EVENING...AND CONTINUE SOUTHEAST OVERNIGHT. DAMAGING WINDS
WILL BE THE LARGEST THREAT WITH STORMS THROUGH MIDNIGHT. SOME
LARGE HAIL IS LIKELY WITH INITIAL STORMS OVER SOUTHEAST SOUTH
DAKOTA...AND INTO THE NIGHT ACROSS NORTHWEST IOWA AND NORTHEAST
NEBRASKA...WITH A DECREASING THREAT FOR LARGE HAIL ACROSS
SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ON WEDNESDAY MAINLY SOUTH OF A LINE
FROM WINDOM TO WINNER. THE GREATEST THREAT WITH THESE STORMS WILL
BE SOME TRAINING OF STORMS AND SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL SOUTH
OF A LINE FROM SPENCER TO YANKTON.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE POSSIBLE AFTER 5 PM CDT WEST OF THE
JAMES
RIVER...AROUND 700 PM ALONG THE INTERSTATE 29 CORRIDOR...AND 900
PM
FROM WINDOM TO STORM LAKE.

&&

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT
WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/FSD. THIS INCLUDES THE GRAPHICAL HAZARDOUS
WEATHER OUTLOOK.

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 11 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:17 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Minnehaha

When: June 16, 4:20 AM CST to 7:30 AM CST
Where: Minnehaha County, Sioux Falls
Property damage: $10 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 43.674, -96.791 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rainfall of 3 to 8 inches caused flooding of numerous basements. Structural damaged was caused to several of the basements as walls caved in. Ground floors of several residences, businesses, and schools were flooded, including a dentists office. There was significant damage to contents in the flooded buildings, including carpets, furniture, clothing, electronic equipment, and electric wiring. A mobile home park was especially hard hit, with all 37 units in the park flooded, and some units completely washed out. Many roads were flooded, and several were partly washed out, mainly at intersections. One parking lot caved in, with a driver barely escaping in his vehicle. Water and sewer lines were damaged during the cave-ins of the lot and of the basements. Several vehicles were damaged by flooding. Several parks in the city were flooded and closed, as was the zoo.

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in South Dakota in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in South Dakota, June 2004

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: 5409640.