South Dakota, 2006

Hail and Heavy Rain in South Dakota, May 31, 2006

May 31, 2006 · NWS UNR · 3 events in 1 county or zone

A severe thunderstorm developed over Rapid City and remained nearly stationary for about 1 hour, producing abundant amounts of hail to 1 inch in diameter. The storm also dropped 1 to 2 inches of rain across southern parts of Rapid City.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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 severe thunderstorm developed over Rapid City and remained nearly stationary for about 1 hour, producing abundant amounts of hail to 1 inch in diameter. The storm also dropped 1 to 2 inches of rain across southern parts of Rapid City. Minor street flooding occurred in the southwest part of the city where the heaviest rains fell.

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 May 30, 1:00 PM MST, 22 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 30, 1:00 PM MST, 22 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
200 PM MDT TUE MAY 30 2006

.DISCUSSION...SCATTERED SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA...MOST
NUMEROUS AROUND THE BLACK HILLS. STRONG SHORTWAVE MOVING THROUGH
WYOMING...COMBINED WITH WEAK UPSLOPE FLOW WILL KEEP
SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AREA THROUGH THE EVENING ACROSS
NORTHEAST WYOMING/WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA. BEST CHANCE OF
SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORSM WILL SHIFT EAST OF THE BLACK HILLS TONIGHT.
THE SLOW MOVING SHORTWAVE WILL BE OVER WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA
WEDNESDAY MORNING...SHIFTING INTO CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA DURING THE
DAY. BEST CHANCE OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE EAST OF THE BLACK
HILLS...LINGERING IN SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA THROUGH THE EARLY
EVENING.

UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD ACROSS THE AREA THURSDAY. WITH WEAK
RETURN FLOW...A FEW AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE
BLACK HILLS. LOW LEVEL JET INCREASES THURSDAY NIGHT WITH STRONG
THETA-E ADVECTION ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA...SO WILL KEEP
THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST. FRIDAY WILL BE A WARM
DAY...WITH MANY LOCATIONS INTO THE LOWER 90S. SURFACE TROF FORECAST
TO MOVE INTO EASTERN WYOMING DURING THE DAY...WITH WELL MIXED
ATMOSPHERE. WILL CONTINUE WITH SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS.

EXTENDED...UPPER RIDGE WILL DOMINATE THE WEATHER PATTERN THROUGH THE
LONG TERM. THIS WILL BRING DRY AND WARM WEATHER TO THE AREA THIS
WEEKEND THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF NEXT WORK WEEK. LATEST GFS RUN
SHOWING A SHORTWAVE APPROACHING LATE SUNDAY...BUT WITH THE MAIN FLOW
STAYING NORTH OF THE AREA...PRECIP IS ALSO PROGGED TO STAY NORTH.

&&

.AVIATION...SHRA/TSRA WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING AND EARLY
MORNING HOURS TONIGHT...AND IS MENTIONED IN ALL TAF/TWEB RTES.
PRECIP SHOULD END BY AROUND 08Z TIMEFRAME. VFR CONDITIONS ARE STILL
EXPECTED THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD.

&&

.UNR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SD...NONE.
WY...NONE.

&&

The radar

The Rapid City radar (KUDX), 36 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:02 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Pennington

When
May 31, 11:00 AM MST to 11:10 AM MST
Where
Pennington County, 4 mi SW of Rapid City
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.050, -103.267

Heavy Rain, Pennington

When
May 31, 11:00 AM MST to 12:00 PM MST
Where
Pennington County, 2 mi SW of Rapid City
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.050, -103.267

Hail, Pennington

When
May 31, 11:19 AM MST to 11:29 AM MST
Where
Pennington County, 4 mi SW of Rapid City
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates
44.004, -102.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Heavy Rain
Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

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, May 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5508744, 5509216, 5508743.