Hail and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, July 21 to 22, 2011

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, July 21 to 22, 2011
Start: 2011-07-21T20:00
End: 2011-07-22T04:15
Location: South Dakota

July 21 to 22, 2011 · NWS ABR · 4 events in 3 counties and zones

Several thunderstorms brought damaging winds and large hail to parts of central South Dakota.

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: 4

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 ABR wrote it up.

Several thunderstorms brought damaging winds and large hail to parts of central South Dakota.

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 Aberdeen, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 21, 7:06 PM CST, 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 21, 7:06 PM CST, 54 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 21, 4:42 AM CST, 15 hours 18 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
542 AM CDT THU JUL 21 2011

MNZ039-046-SDZ003>011-015>023-033>037-045-048-051-221045-
TRAVERSE-BIG STONE-CORSON-CAMPBELL-MCPHERSON-BROWN-MARSHALL-
ROBERTS-WALWORTH-EDMUNDS-DAY-DEWEY-POTTER-FAULK-SPINK-CLARK-
CODINGTON-GRANT-HAMLIN-DEUEL-STANLEY-SULLY-HUGHES-HYDE-HAND-JONES-
LYMAN-BUFFALO-
542 AM CDT THU JUL 21 2011 /442 AM MDT THU JUL 21 2011/

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL
MINNESOTA...CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA...NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA AND
NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AND MOVE ACROSS
PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA EARLY THIS
MORNING. NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE AREA FROM LATE THURSDAY
NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...WITH THE BEST CHANCES BEING FRIDAY
AFTERNOON AND NIGHT. SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE WITH LARGE HAIL.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 21, 7:39 PM CST, 21 minutes before

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The radar

The Rapid City radar (KUDX), 143 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:58 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jones

When: July 21, 8:00 PM CST
Where: Jones County, 10.1 mi NW of Okaton
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 43.960, -101.060

Sixty mph winds downed some large tree branches.

Thunderstorm Wind, Stanley

When: July 21, 7:50 PM MST
Where: Stanley County, 7.99 mi NNE of Wendte
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 44.360, -100.620

Sixty mph winds were estimated.

Thunderstorm Wind, Lyman

When: July 21, 9:15 PM CST
Where: Lyman County, 7.19 mi SSE of Lyman
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 43.780, -99.690

Seventy mph winds were estimated by the public.

Hail, Jones

When: July 22, 4:15 AM CST
Where: Jones County, 0.85 mi NE of Murdo
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.890, -100.710

What these are

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.
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 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in South Dakota, July 2011

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: 336894, 336897, 336909, 336883.