A strong cold front moved quickly through western South Dakota early in the day. Across northwest South Dakota, northwest winds increased late in the morning to 35 to 45 mph, with gusts around 60 mph.
Every event with a place to put it; 9 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 quickly through western South Dakota early in the day. Across northwest South Dakota, northwest winds increased late in the morning to 35 to 45 mph, with gusts around 60 mph. Winds began to taper off by early evening.
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 13, 2:45 AM MST, 5 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
245 AM MST SAT MAR 13 2004
.DISCUSSION...09Z SURFACE ANALYSIS HAD LOW NEAR KMBG WITH TROUGH
INTO CENTRAL ND AND COLD FRONT INTO THE NE PANHANDLE. SHORTWAVE
ENERGY OVER SK DRIVING SYSTEM. -SHRA AHEAD OF MAIN UPPER FORCING PER
REGIONAL RADAR LOOP. CONCERN TODAY IS EFFECT OF THIS SYSTEM.
GRADIENT INCREASES TODAY AS SURFACE LOW MOVES INTO THE UPPER
MIDWEST. STEEP LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES UP TO 8C/KM FROM SFC-700MB WILL
PROMOTE DEEP MIXING OF 45-55KT WINDS. SECONDARY TROUGH/COLD AIR PUSH
ROTATES AROUND SURFACE LOW DURING PEAK HEATING ACROSS NORTHWEST SD.
A RECIPE FOR VERY WINDY CONDITIONS. WILL HOIST WARNINGS AS A
RESULT...AND LEAVE ADVISORY FURTHER SOUTH OF I-90...INCLUDING THE
RAPID CITY METROPOLITAN AREA. SHOWERY-TYPE PRECIPITATION POSSIBLE AS
MAIN SHORTWAVE ENERGY MOVES THROUGH UNDER COLD POOL ALOFT. HIGHS
TRICKY BUT EXPECT A FEW DEGREE RISE NORTH THIS MORNING...AND THATS
ABOUT IT. FURTHER SOUTH READINGS WELL INTO THE 50S SHOULD OCCUR
BEFORE SECONDARY PUSH OF COLD AIR MOVES THROUGH.
GRADIENT RELAXES TONIGHT AS SURFACE RIDGE MOVES OVER THE NORTHERN
PLAINS. LOWS NEAR GUIDANCE. WARM AIR ADVECTION BEGINS SUNDAY AS
RIDGE SHIFTS SOUTHEAST. A WEAK WAVE IN NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL
BRING A SMALL CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION TO PORTIONS OF THE AREA SUNDAY
NIGHT AND MONDAY. ANOTHER WEAK WAVE MOVES IN TUESDAY.
LOOKING AHEAD...UPPER RIDGE TRIES TO BUILD AND LATEST GUIDANCE
SUGGESTS NICE END OF THE WEEK WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE 50S.
.UNR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.SD...HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH THIS EVENING NORTHWEST SD.
...WIND ADVISORY THROUGH THIS EVENING SOUTHWEST THROUGH SOUTH
CENTRAL SD.
.WY...NONE.
HELGESONHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD 549 AM MST SAT MAR 13 2004 SDZ001-002-012>014-024>032-041>044-046-047-049-072>074-WYZ054>058- 071-141400- 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- 549 AM MST (649 AM CST) SAT MAR 13 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA AND NORTHEASTERN WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE EXITING THE REGION WILL LEAVE VERY WINDY CONDITIONS IN ITS WAKE. NORTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 25 TO 45 MPH THIS AFTERNOON...GUSTS FROM 50 TO 60 MPH ARE LIKELY. THUS...HIGH WIND WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT FOR NORTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA THROUGH THIS EVENING. WIND ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHWEST THROUGH SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA THROUGH THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
9 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, March 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: 5390042, 5390039, 5390040, 5390035, 5390036, 5390034, 5390037, 5390038, 5390041.