High Wind, Harding
- When
- January 30, 3:00 PM MST to 6:00 PM MST
- Where
- Harding forecast zone
- Measured
- 54 kt (62 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- ASOS
- Coordinates
- 45.580, -103.496 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind in South Dakota, January 30, 2020
A cold front brought gusty northwest winds to the northwestern and west central South Dakota plains. The strongest winds were from Buffalo to Rapid City, where sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph were recorded, along with a few gusts around 60 mph.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 3
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 cold front brought gusty northwest winds to the northwestern and west central South Dakota plains. The strongest winds were from Buffalo to Rapid City, where sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph were recorded, along with a few gusts around 60 mph.
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 Jan 30, 2:38 PM MST, 22 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 30, 2:38 PM MST, 22 minutes before
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</html>The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Rapid City
- When
- January 30, 4:00 PM MST to 9:00 PM MST
- Where
- Rapid City forecast zone
- Measured
- 55 kt (63 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- Official NWS Observations
- Coordinates
- 44.004, -102.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Butte
- When
- January 30, 5:00 PM MST to 7:00 PM MST
- Where
- Butte forecast zone
- Measured
- 51 kt (59 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- COOP Observer
- Coordinates
- 44.906, -103.508 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in South Dakota in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, January 2020
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 867914, 867916, 867915.