A strong cold front crossing the region during the night produced gusty winds. The strongest winds developed across the Rapid City area, where gusts around 60 mph were recorded.
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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 crossing the region during the night produced gusty winds. The strongest winds developed across the Rapid City area, where gusts around 60 mph were recorded.
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 Aug 21, 4:21 PM MST, 6 hours 54 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
521 PM MDT THU AUG 21 2008
.DISCUSSION...COLD FRONT CURRENTLY POSITIONED OVER SOUTHEAST
MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE CWA TONIGHT.
GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP BEHIND THE FRONT. WITH STRONG
CAA AND 850 MB WINDS AROUND 55 KTS HAVE DECIDED TO ISSUE A WIND
ADVISORY FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA FROM 6Z TO
12Z FRIDAY. HAVE TWEAKED GRIDS FOR STRONGER WINDS ACROSS THESE
AREAS. THE REST OF THE FORECAST IS ON TRACK.
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 250 PM MDT THU AUG 21 2008/
DISCUSSION...20Z SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS A SURFACE LOW ACROSS FAR
SOUTHEASTERN MONTANA...AND A COLD FRONT ACROSS CENTRAL MONTANA
PUSHING TOWARD THE CWA. BREEZY SOUTHERLY WINDS WERE ACROSS SOUTH
CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA. HIGHS HAVE REACHED THE 90S ACROSS THE
PLAINS...WITH KPHP REPORTING 97 IN THE LAST HOUR.
TONIGHT...COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH SOUTHEAST AS AN UPPER LOW
CROSSES THE CANADIAN ROCKIES. A SHORTWAVE MOVING ACROSS SOUTHERN
MONTANA WILL APPROACH THE AREA...SWINGING INTO NORTH DAKOTA AND JUST
MISSING THE CWA. MODELS HAVE BEEN INDICATING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A
SQUALL LINE ACROSS EASTERN MONTANA MOVING INTO WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA
THIS EVENING. WITH A WELL MIXED BOUNDARY LAYER UP TO 10KFT OR
HIGHER...SEVERE WINDS ARE LIKELY A THREAT WITH A BOWING LINE. IT IS
POSSIBLE THAT THE SOUTHERN TAIL END OF THIS LINE WILL AFFECT FAR
NORTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA...SO WILL LEAVE IN CHANCE POPS OVERNIGHT AND
ALONG NORTHEAST WYOMING FOR EARLIER CONVECTION LATE THIS
AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING. THE FRONT WILL QUICKLY PUSH THROUGH THE CWA
TONIGHT REACHING KRAP AROUND 06Z WITH GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS BEHIND
IT. MODELS HAVE SHOWED SOME INDICATION OF BORDERLINE ADVISORY
CRITERIA WINDS...BUT SINCE THE WINDS WILL NOT LAST MORE THAN THREE
HOURS...WILL NOT ISSUED AN ADVISORY.
MUCH COOLER AIR WILL ALSO FILTER IN BEHIND THE FRONT WHICH WILL
BRING SIGNIFICANTLY COOLER HIGHS FRIDAY. SKIES WILL BECOME MOSTLY
SUNNY FRIDAY AS AN UPPER RIDGE BUILDS ACROSS THE WESTERN CONUS. THE
RIDGE AXIS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE NORTHERN PLAINS SATURDAY KEEPING
QUIET WEATHER AROUND AND SKIES MOSTLY SUNNY ACROSS THE REGION FOR
THE FIRST HALF OF THE WEEKEND.
EXTENDED...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER THE REGION ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY
WILL KEEP ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES OVER THE AREA. MODELS CONTINUE
TO SHOW SOME LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY OVER THE BLACK HILLS
AND PTNS OF SRN SOUTH DAKOTA BOTH DAYS ALONG WITH A WEAK WAVE MOVING
THROUGH. THEREFORE...WILL KEEP LOW POPS OVER THE BLACK HILLS ALONG
WITH SPREADING THE CHANCES EASTERLY INTO SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA.
MODELS PUSH A TROF THROUGH THE REGION TOWARDS MID-WEEK. THIS WILL
BRING A DAILY CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR VARIOUS PARTS OF THE AREA
FROM LATE TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...ALONG WITH SLIGHTLY COOLER
TEMPERATURES.
AVIATION...A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE AREA THIS EVENING
BRINGING GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS INTO FRIDAY...PARTICULARLY OVER THE
SOUTH DAKOTA PLAINS. ISOLD TO SCT TSRA WILL BE POSSIBLE TONIGHT OVER
PARTS OF NORTHEAST WYOMING AND NORTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA...WITH MVFR
VIS IN THE HEAVIER PRECIP. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL.
&&
.UNR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SD...WIND ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 AM MDT FRIDAY FOR BUTTE-
CUSTER CO PLAINS-HAAKON-HARDING-JACKSON-NORTHERN FOOT HILLS-
NORTHERN MEADE CO PLAINS-PENNINGTON CO PLAINS-PERKINS-RAPID
CITY-SOUTHERN MEADE CO PLAINS-STURGIS/PIEDMONT FOOT HILLS-
ZIEBACH.
WY...NONE.
&&
WETENKAMPHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD 628 AM MDT THU AUG 21 2008 SDZ001-002-012>014-024>032-041>044-046-047-049-072>074-WYZ054>058- 071-221300- 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- 628 AM MDT (728 AM CDT) THU AUG 21 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA AND NORTHEASTERN WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THE GRASSLAND FIRE DANGER INDEX WILL BE IN THE EXTREME CATEGORY THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS FAR SOUTHWESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA. THERE WILL BE A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS FAR NORTHEAST WYOMING AND NORTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA TONIGHT AS A COLD FRONT CROSSES THE NORTHERN PLAINS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE BLACK HILLS AREA DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 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 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, August 2008
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: 130527, 130526.