Hail in South Dakota, July 2, 2009

Name: Hail in South Dakota, July 2, 2009
Start: 2009-07-02T18:25
End: 2009-07-02T18:35
Location: South Dakota

July 2, 2009 · NWS UNR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Hail to golf ball size fell from a severe thunderstorm west of Ardmore.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: 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 happened

The episode as NWS UNR wrote it up.

Hail to golf ball size fell from a severe thunderstorm west of Ardmore.

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 Jul 2, 2:14 PM MST, 4 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 2, 2:14 PM MST, 4 hours 11 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
314 PM MDT THU JUL 2 2009

.DISCUSSION...CURRENT SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS WEAK FRONTAL
BOUNDARY/SURFACE TROF OVER SOUTHEAST MT THROUGH FAR NORTHEAST WY
AND INTO THE NEB PANHANDLE. UPPER LEVEL ANALYSIS HAS HIGH
PRESSURE OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION...WITH WEAK RIDGING
REMAINING OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. WEAK DISTURBANCES CONTINUE TO
PASS OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS. KUDX RADAR
SHOWS SCATTERED SHOWERS AND STORMS ACROSS SOUTHEAST MT...NORTHEAST
WY...AND MUCH OF WESTERN SD. A COUPLE OF THE STORMS HAVE BEEN
SEVERE SO FAR WITH LARGE HAIL AND HEAVY RAINFALL. THE STORMS ARE
MOVING RATHER SLOWLY. SKIES ARE VARIABLY CLOUDY WITH TEMPS IN THE
70S TO MID 80S...60S WHERE IT IS RAINING.

SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL CONTINUE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND PERSIST
INTO TONIGHT. THREAT FOR ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO
THE EVENING FOR MOST OF THE CWA...WITH THE EXCEPTION LIKELY BEING
FAR SOUTH CENTRAL SD. BEST INSTABILITY WILL BE ALONG AND EAST OF
THE SURFACE BOUNDARY ACROSS FAR EASTERN PORTIONS OF MT AND WY INTO
THE WESTERN DAKOTAS AND NEB PANHANDLE...WHERE CAPE VALUES WILL
BE IN THE 1000 TO 2000 J/KG RANGE THROUGH EARLY EVENING. SHEAR
WILL BECOME STRONGER LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS LOW LEVEL
JET STRENGTHENS OVER WESTERN SD. THIS WILL ALLOW SHOWERS AND
STORMS TO CONTINUE OVERNIGHT. MAIN THREATS FROM THE SEVERE STORMS
WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WIND GUSTS. AN ISOLATED TORNADO
CANNOT BE RULED OUT WITH LOWER LCLS TODAY AND SURFACE BOUNDARY
ACROSS THE AREA. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES WILL BE ABOVE AVERAGE
LEVELS THROUGH TONIGHT ACROSS MUCH OF WESTERN SD...125 TO 150
PERCENT OF NORMAL...SO LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE WITH THE
STRONGER STORMS AS WELL. ISSUED FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR MUCH OF
WESTERN SD THROUGH TONIGHT. MAY NEED TO BE EXPANDED IF HEAVIER
RAINFALL POTENTIAL TRANSLATES FURTHER NORTH OR EAST.

CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL CONTINUE ON FRIDAY...WITH
THE HIGHER COVERAGE LIKELY BEING ACROSS SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE CWA.
SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS NORTHEAST WY
AND FAR WESTERN SD...MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING
HOURS. LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WIND GUSTS WILL BE THE MAIN THREATS
AGAIN. HIGHS WILL BE IN THE 70S AND LOWER 80S.

SATURDAY MAY END UP BEING LESS ACTIVE THAN PREVIOUS DAYS...WITH
BETTER SEVERE THREAT LIKELY SHIFTING FURTHER SOUTH. WILL KEEP 20
TO 30 PERCENT CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST...MAINLY
IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. HIGHS WILL BE IN THE 70S AND
LOWER 80S AGAIN.

EXTENDED...AN ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN WILL SLOWLY TRANSITION TO A
QUIETER PATTERN AS AN UPPER RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS
EARLY NEXT WEEK. THIS WILL BRING DRIER WEATHER AND WARMER
TEMPERATURES. CANT RULE OUT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ON ANY DAY IF A
RIDGE RIDING WAVE CROSSES THE AREA...BUT RIGHT NOW CHANCES APPEAR
LOW ENOUGH TO REMOVE POPS FOR MUCH OF THE EXTENDED.

&&

.AVIATION...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THIS AFTERNOON
AND THROUGH THE NIGHT TONIGHT. LOCALIZED MVFR CONDITIONS WILL BE
POSSIBLE IN AND AROUND THE HEAVIER PRECIPITATION...OTHERWISE...VFR
CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL.

&&

.UNR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SD...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH LATE TONIGHT FOR BENNETT-HAAKON-
     JACKSON-SHANNON.

     FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH LATE TONIGHT FOR BUTTE-CENTRAL BLACK
     HILLS-CUSTER CO PLAINS-HERMOSA FOOT HILLS-NORTHERN BLACK
     HILLS-NORTHERN FOOT HILLS-NORTHERN MEADE CO PLAINS-
     PENNINGTON CO PLAINS-RAPID CITY-SOUTHERN BLACK HILLS-
     SOUTHERN MEADE CO PLAINS-STURGIS/PIEDMONT FOOT HILLS.

WY...NONE.
&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 2, 2:29 PM MST, 3 hours 56 minutes before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 2, 3:56 PM MST, 2 hours 29 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jul 2, 3:57 PM MST, 2 hours 28 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jul 2, 4:05 PM MST, 2 hours 20 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Jul 2, 4:18 PM MST, 2 hours 7 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Jul 2, 4:29 PM MST, 1 hour 56 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Jul 2, 4:41 PM MST, 1 hour 44 minutes before

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The radar

The Rapid City radar (KUDX), 152 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:23 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Fall River

When: July 2, 6:25 PM MST to 6:35 PM MST
Where: Fall River County, 13.6 mi W of Ardmore
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 43.020, -103.939

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in South Dakota in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in South Dakota, July 2009

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 170308.