Hail, Pennington
- When
- July 20, 2:20 PM MST
- Where
- Pennington County, 1 mi N of Hisega
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 44.065, -103.400
A thunderstorm became severe west of Rapid City and moved east-northeast, dropping large hail over the western, central, and northern portions of the city and causing extensive property damage. It weakened as it moved onto the plains.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 thunderstorm became severe west of Rapid City and moved east-northeast, dropping large hail over the western, central, and northern portions of the city and causing extensive property damage. It weakened as it moved onto the plains.
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 20, 12:52 PM MST, 1 hour 28 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD 152 PM MDT SAT JUL 20 2013 .SHORT TERM...THIS EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT ISSUED AT 152 PM MDT SAT JUL 20 2013 FLATTENED CONUS RIDGE WILL SUPPORT WNW FLOW THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH SUBTLE WEAK IMPULSES. LL MOISTURE PLUME WILL WAVER ACROSS THE REGION WITH EACH IMPULSE...SUPPORTING PERIODIC CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS COUPLED WITH DIURNAL HEATING. THE NEXT IN A SERIES OF IMPULSES WILL ADVECT THROUGH THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND WILL SUPPORT THUNDERSTORMS OVER MOST OF THE FA...MAINLY SD. BEST COVERAGE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING GIVEN IMPULSE TIMING AND DIURNAL EFFECTS. ANOTHER WAVE WILL TRAVERSE THE REGION SUNDAY...ALTHOUGH THE BULK OF LSA AND HEIGHT/FLOW EFFECTS WILL REMAIN ACROSS ND. HOWEVER...LINGERING LL MOISTURE WILL BE MORE THAN SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT CONVECTION...ESP OVER THE BH. LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT...A LL INVERTED TROUGH WILL SLOWLY PROGRESS EAST THROUGH THE EVENING...BEING SUPPORT A BY A PASSING IMPULSE. SCT THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE FOUND ALONG AND EAST OF THE TROUGH...AND ESP THE BH AND ADJACENT PLAINS. STRONG DEEP LAYER SHEAR OF 45 TO 55 KNOTS COUPLED WITH FORECAST ML CAPE OF 1500-2000 J/KG WILL LIKELY SUPPORT A FEW SUPERCELLS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS THROUGH EVENING...TRENDING SOUTH WITH TIME. PW VALUES WILL ALSO REMAIN QUITE HIGH FOR THE AREA AROUND 1.5 INCHES...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WITH SOME STORMS. HAVE ADJUSTED POPS AND WX FOR THIS. SUNDAY...REFLECTED SOUTHERLY FLOW OFF THE SFC PER THE NEXT ADVANCING IMPULSE MAY SUPPORT A MORNING THREAT ELEVATED CONVECTION ACROSS FAR SW SD...IN THE RECYCLING LL MOISTURE PLUME. HOWEVER...BETTER CHANCES WILL ARRIVE IN THE AFTERNOON...MAINLY ACROSS FAR SW PORTIONS OF THE FA. BEST CHANCES FOR CONVECTION WILL RESIDE THERE AND INTO THE BH GIVEN DIURNAL HEATING IN THE MOISTURE BUBBLE. HOWEVER...THE ADVANCING ND IMPULSE AND ITS ASSOCIATED HEIGHT/FLOW EFFECTS WILL ADD LITTLE TO NO SUPPORT TO THE EXPECTED SW FA CONVECTION...WITH WEAK SHEAR SUPPORTING A LIKELY PULSE ENV. DAMAGING WINDS WOULD BE THE MAIN THREAT WITH ANY STORM THERE. HOWEVER...IF ENOUGH MOISTURE DOES ADVECT NORTH INTO NW SD...AN ISOLD TS MAY BE POSSIBLE WHICH COULD BE BORDERLINE SEVERE/SEVERE ALONG THE SFC TROUGH. THIS WILL NEED TO BE WATCHED. FAIRLY WARM CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE WITH LOWS GENERALLY IN THE 60S AND HIGHS IN THE 80S AND LOW 90S. && .LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY ISSUED AT 152 PM MDT SAT JUL 20 2013 UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER THE WRN CONUS WILL KEEP NWRLY FLOW OVER OUR AREA THROUGH MUCH OF THE EXTENDED. A VARIETY OF SHORT WAVES SLIDING THROUGH WILL BRING A DAILY CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO MANY PARTS OF THE AREA. NEAR AVERAGE TEMPS ARE EXPECTED. && .AVIATION...FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SUNDAY AFTERNOON ISSUED AT 152 PM MDT SAT JUL 20 2013 SCT TSRA WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFT/TONIGHT OVER THE BLKHLS INTO WRN/CNTRL SD. SOME STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE...PARTICULARLY OVER SWRN/S CNTRL SD. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED. && .UNR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SD...NONE. WY...NONE. && SHORT TERM...JC LONG TERM...77 AVIATION...77
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD 257 AM MDT SAT JUL 20 2013 SDZ001-002-012>014-024>032-041>044-046-047-049-072>074-WYZ054>058- 071-211400- 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- 257 AM MDT (357 AM CDT) SAT JUL 20 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA AND NORTHEASTERN WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY INTO THIS EVENING. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS...ARE POSSIBLE OVER AND NEAR THE BLACK HILLS AND OVER PARTS OF SOUTHWESTERN AND SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA... MAINLY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN ON SUNDAY. THE BEST CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ON SUNDAY WILL BE OVER SOUTHWESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TONIGHT. && STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES... OR CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT WEATHER.GOV/RAPIDCITY
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html><!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html><!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html><!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html><!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html><!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>The Rapid City radar (KUDX), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:20 UTC.
10 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Large hail damaged automobiles and property in the area.
Large hail damaged vehicles and property in the area.
Large hail cracked windows and stripped leaves off trees.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Dakota in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, July 2013
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 466451, 466452, 466456, 466458, 468919, 466457, 466459, 468924, 466462, 466461.