South Dakota, 2006

High Wind in South Dakota, April 17 to 19, 2006

April 17 to 19, 2006 · NWS UNR · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

A strong spring storm moved across the Northern and Central Plains, bringing precipitation and very strong northwest winds. Sustained winds of 30 to 50 mph, with gusts around 70 mph, were felt across a large portion of western South Dakota for more than 24 hours as the storm slowly crossed the region.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 10 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
10

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 strong spring storm moved across the Northern and Central Plains, bringing precipitation and very strong northwest winds. Sustained winds of 30 to 50 mph, with gusts around 70 mph, were felt across a large portion of western South Dakota for more than 24 hours as the storm slowly crossed the region.

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 Apr 17, 7:52 PM MST, 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 17, 7:52 PM MST, 8 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 17, 5:30 AM MST, 14 hours 30 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
630 AM MDT MON APR 17 2006

SDZ001-002-012>014-024>032-041>044-046-047-049-072>074-WYZ054>058-
071-181300-
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-
630 AM MDT (730 AM CDT) MON APR 17 2006

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH
   TUESDAY EVENING FOR THE NORTHERN BLACK HILLS AND THE
   WYOMING BLACK HILLS...

...HIGH WIND WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH
   TUESDAY EVENING FOR MUCH OF WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA...

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A STRONG...SLOW MOVING STORM SYSTEM CONTINUES TO MOVE INTO THE
REGION TODAY. AS IT DOES...A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE
AREA THIS AFTERNOON...WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING. THERE
IS A SLIGHT RISK THAT SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME
SEVERE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER NORTHEAST WYOMING AND
WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA.

BEHIND THE COLD FRONT...COLD AIR WILL POUR INTO THE REGION.
PRECIPITATION WILL SWITCH TO SNOW OVER NORTHEAST WYOMING...THE BLACK
HILLS AND PARTS OF NORTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA LATE TONIGHT. OVER THE
NORTHERN BLACK HILLS...STRONG UPSLOPE WINDS WILL PRODUCE CONTINUOUS
SNOWFALL WITH AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OVER
NORTHEAST WYOMING AND NORTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA WILL GENERALLY BE
AROUND AN INCH. FOR THE NORTHERN BLACK HILLS AND WYOMING BLACK
HILLS...SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE 1 TO 3 INCHES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO FALL THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING ACROSS THE
NORTHERN BLACK HILLS...WHERE TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATION WILL
BE 3 TO 6 INCHES WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. THE SNOW...COMBINED
WITH STRONG WINDS WILL CREATE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW.

AS THE STORM SYSTEM CONTINUES TO MOVE TO THE EAST...NORTHWEST WINDS
ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO 35 TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH
ACROSS THE PLAINS OF WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA ON TUESDAY. THE WINDS
WILL DECREASE TUESDAY EVENING...BUT ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE AGAIN ON
WEDNESDAY...THOUGH ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE AS STRONG. THE STORM
SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO EXIT THE AREA ON THURSDAY.

THIS STORM SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SLOW DOWN...AND BRING
SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL TO THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF NORTHEAST WYOMING
AND THE PLAINS OF NORTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA. IF THAT OCCURS...TRAVEL
MAY BECOME DIFFICULT WITH THE SNOWFALL AND STRONG WINDS. STAY TUNED
TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLET FOR FURTHER
UPDATES AS THIS STORM PROGRESSES THROUGH THE REGION.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TODAY.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 17, 4:45 PM MST, 3 hours 15 minutes before
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Local storm report, Apr 17, 5:46 PM MST, 2 hours 14 minutes before
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Local storm report, Apr 17, 6:24 PM MST, 1 hour 36 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
724 PM MDT MON APR 17 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0630 PM     HAIL             1 SE LADNER             45.82N 103.72W
04/17/2006  E0.88 INCH       HARDING            SD   TRAINED SPOTTER

            GROUND WHITE WITH HAIL...DIME TO NICKEL SIZE.

&&

BUNKERS

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Harding

When
April 17, 8:00 PM MST to April 18, 6:00 AM MST
Where
Harding forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph) measured gust
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
45.580, -103.496 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Butte / Except X Sw Butte

When
April 17, 9:00 PM MST to April 18, 6:00 AM MST
Where
Butte / Except X Sw Butte forecast zone
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.906, -103.508 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Northern Foot Hills / N Lawrence / X Sw Butte / Part of Sw Meade

When
April 18, 12:00 AM MST to 6:00 AM MST
Where
Northern Foot Hills / N Lawrence / X Sw Butte / Part of Sw Meade forecast zone
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.359, -103.792 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Rapid City

When
April 18, 12:00 AM MST to April 19, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Rapid City forecast zone
Measured
60 kt (69 mph) measured gust
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
44.004, -102.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Pennington Co Plains

When
April 18, 6:00 AM MST to April 19, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Pennington Co Plains forecast zone
Measured
69 kt (79 mph) measured gust
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
44.004, -102.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Southern Meade Co Plains

When
April 18, 6:00 AM MST to April 19, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Southern Meade Co Plains forecast zone
Measured
54 kt (62 mph) measured gust
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
44.567, -102.717 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Hermosa Foothills

When
April 18, 6:00 AM MST to April 19, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Hermosa Foothills forecast zone
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.678, -103.451 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Fall River

When
April 19, 12:00 AM MST to 3:00 PM MST
Where
Fall River forecast zone
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.239, -103.528 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Southern Foot Hills / Part of N Fall River

When
April 19, 6:00 AM MST to 3:00 PM MST
Where
Southern Foot Hills / Part of N Fall River forecast zone
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) measured gust
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.239, -103.528 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Custer Co Plains

When
April 19, 6:00 AM MST to 3:00 PM MST
Where
Custer Co Plains forecast zone
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.678, -103.451 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Dakota in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, April 2006

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5504483, 5504484, 5504485, 5504486, 5504489, 5504491, 5504492, 5504490, 5504487, 5504488.