Hail and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, July 9, 2009

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, July 9, 2009
Start: 2009-07-09T21:30
End: 2009-07-09T23:59
Location: South Dakota

July 9, 2009 · NWS UNR · 6 events in 2 counties and zones

A supercell thunderstorm produced golf ball sized hail and 60 mph wind gusts across Fall River and southern Shannon Counties.

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: 6

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 supercell thunderstorm produced golf ball sized hail and 60 mph wind gusts across Fall River and southern Shannon Counties.

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 9, 7:27 PM MST, 2 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 9, 7:27 PM MST, 2 hours 3 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
827 PM MDT THU JUL 9 2009

.DISCUSSION...02Z SURFACE ANALYSIS HAD WEAK LOW NEAR KCPR. A PAIR
OF SHORTWAVES WILL MOVE ACROSS THE CWA TONIGHT PER 00Z UPPER AIR
ANALYSIS AND 18Z/00Z GUIDANCE. 00Z KUNR SOUNDING SHOWS ELEVATED
CONVECTION POTENTIAL WITH ANY FORCING. CURRENT FORECAST HANDLES
THINGS WELL...SO UPDATE WILL ADDRESS SHORT TERM TRENDS.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 215 PM MDT THU JUL 9 2009/

DISCUSSION...AT 19Z SFC MAP SHOWS HIGH PRES OVER WRN SD AND
NERN WY. SKIES ARE PC WITH PLEASANT TEMPS IN THE 70S TO LOWER
80S. WINDS ARE MAINLY LIGHT AND VARIABLE.

FOR TONIGHT...WEAK MID LVL S/W WILL BRING A CHC OF AN ISOLATED
TSTM TO NERN WY/SWRN SD AND BLACK HILLS THIS EVENING. MOISTURE
AND INSTABILITY WEAK SO DONT EXPECT MUCH. ANOTHER STRONGER S/W
WL MOVE ACRS REGION FM 06Z TO 12Z. THETA-E ADV AND WAA INCREASE
ACRS NERN WY THRU BLK HLS INTO SWRN SD. 800MB ESE JET INCREASES
ACROSS WESTON COUNTY. THUS...WILL GO WITH SCT TSTMS AFT 06Z
ACRS NERN WY FAR WRN SD AND MVG EAST THRU THE NIGHT.

ON FRIDAY...SHOULD BE ANOTHER NICE DAY ON BACK SIDE OF DEPARTING
S/W IN ARE OF SUBSIDENCE. TEMPS SHLD BE IN MAINLY LOWER TO MID
80S...70S IN BLACK HILLS.

ON FRI NITE...ANOTHER S/W WILL MOVE ACRS SRN AREAS. GOOD THETA-E
AND WAA ADV FROM SERN MT SE INTO SOUTH CENTRAL SD. BEST DYNAMICS
WILL BE SOUTH...SO WILL GO WITH CHC TSTMS ACRS SRN PORTIONS OF
WRN SD AND NERN WY.

EXTENDED...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...WEAK UPPER RIDGING OVER
THE NORTHERN PLAINS IS PRESSED SOUTH PERIODICALLY AS NORTHERN
ZONAL FLOW BRINGS WEAK SHORTWAVE AFTER SHORTWAVE IN FROM THE
PACIFIC COAST. THESE SHORTWAVES WILL TRIGGER THUNDERSTORMS OVER
PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA JUST ABOUT EACH DAY. THE STRONGEST
PROGGED SHORTWAVE AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL CROSS THE AREA
MONDAY NIGHT-TUES  MORNING...BRINGING A CHANCE OF STRONG TSTMS TO
THE NORTHERN PLAINS...AND COOLING TEMPERATURES FOR THE MIDDLE PART
OF NEXT WEEK.

AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING.
AN ISOLATED LATE AFTERNOON OR EVENING THUNDERSTORM IS POSSIBLE
WITH MORE WIDESPREAD SHWS/TSTMS POSSIBLE FROM 05Z THRU 11Z.

&&

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

HELGESON

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 9, 3:51 AM MST, 17 hours 39 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
451 AM MDT THU JUL 9 2009

SDZ001-002-012>014-024>032-041>044-046-047-049-072>074-WYZ054>058-
071-101300-
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-
451 AM MDT (551 AM CDT) THU JUL 9 2009

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS LATER THIS EVENING AND
OVERNIGHT...BUT SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

ALTHOUGH A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...THE
THREAT FOR SEVERE STORMS IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 9, 8:39 PM MST, 51 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jul 9, 8:40 PM MST, 50 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jul 9, 8:44 PM MST, 46 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jul 9, 9:02 PM MST, 28 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jul 9, 9:03 PM MST, 27 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jul 9, 9:20 PM MST, 10 minutes before

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The radar

The Rapid City radar (KUDX), 119 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Fall River

When: July 9, 9:30 PM MST to 9:40 PM MST
Where: Fall River County, 5.59 mi NNW of Edgemont
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.373, -103.878

Hail, Fall River

When: July 9, 10:05 PM MST to 10:15 PM MST
Where: Fall River County, 14.82 mi NW of Edgemont
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 43.470, -104.010

Thunderstorm Wind, Fall River

When: July 9, 10:05 PM MST to 10:15 PM MST
Where: Fall River County, 14.82 mi NW of Edgemont
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 43.470, -104.010

A spotter estimated wind gusts of 60 mph.

Hail, Fall River

When: July 9, 11:00 PM MST
Where: Fall River County, Oelrichs
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 43.200, -103.150

Thunderstorm Wind, Oglala Lakota

When: July 9, 11:30 PM MST
Where: Oglala Lakota County, Oglala
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 43.180, -102.750

Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.

Thunderstorm Wind, Oglala Lakota

When: July 9, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Oglala Lakota County, Pine Ridge
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 43.030, -102.570

Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 171334, 171335, 171336, 171337, 171338, 171339.