South Dakota, 2013

Hail and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, May 17, 2013

May 17, 2013 · NWS ABR · 4 events in 3 counties and zones

A storm system moving across the area brought gusty winds of over 60 mph along with quarter size hail. Locally heavy rainfall was also reported.

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.

A storm system moving across the area brought gusty winds of over 60 mph along with quarter size hail. Locally heavy rainfall was also reported.

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 May 17, 5:12 PM CST, 2 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 17, 5:12 PM CST, 2 hours 3 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, May 17, 9:29 AM CST, 9 hours 46 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
1029 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2013

MNZ039-046-SDZ003>011-015>023-033>037-045-048-051-181530-
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-
1029 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2013 /929 AM MDT FRI MAY 17 2013/

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

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATER THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING ALONG A FRONTAL ZONE. SOME OF THESE COULD
BECOME SEVERE MAINLY ALONG AND WEST OF THE MISSOURI RIVER.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AGAIN DURING THE AFTERNOON
AND NIGHTTIME HOURS SATURDAY. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME
SEVERE AND PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. ISOLATED
TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE AS WELL.

ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE DURING THE AFTERNOON
AND EVENING HOURS ON SUNDAY. THE SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBILITIES ARE
EXPECTED TO BE EAST OF THE JAMES VALLEY. SOME OF THESE STORMS
COULD BECOME SEVERE.

ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED FROM MONDAY
THROUGH TUESDAY WITH NO SEVERE WEATHER EXPECTED.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT
AND AGAIN SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT.

MOHR

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 17, 6:17 PM CST, 58 minutes before
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Local storm report, May 17, 7:14 PM CST, 1 minute before
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The radar

The Rapid City radar (KUDX), 165 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:16 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Jones

When
May 17, 7:15 PM CST
Where
Jones County, 2.42 mi NE of Van Metre
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
44.170, -100.760

Thunderstorm Wind, Stanley

When
May 17, 6:16 PM MST
Where
Stanley County, 1 mi E of Hayes
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
44.370, -101.000

Hail, Stanley

When
May 17, 6:19 PM MST
Where
Stanley County, 4.06 mi SW of Wendte
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
44.210, -100.730

Thunderstorm Wind, Hughes

When
May 17, 7:51 PM CST
Where
Hughes County, 7.75 mi NW of Pierre
Measured
53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
44.450, -100.440

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

More

Every storm in South Dakota in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, May 2013

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: 448862, 448863, 452535, 452536.