A line of storms forming along a front produced sporadic high winds in portions of north central and northeast South Dakota during the overnight hours of July 17th into the early morning hours of July 18th. Wind speeds of 81 mph were recorded 4 miles north of Agar, 70 mph 1 mile east-southeast of Bowdle and 61 mph 5 miles west of Seneca and at the Aberdeen regional airport.
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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 ABR wrote it up.
A line of storms forming along a front produced sporadic high winds in portions of north central and northeast South Dakota during the overnight hours of July 17th into the early morning hours of July 18th. Wind speeds of 81 mph were recorded 4 miles north of Agar, 70 mph 1 mile east-southeast of Bowdle and 61 mph 5 miles west of Seneca and at the Aberdeen regional airport. The COOP observer 1 mile north of Pollock also estimated wind speeds topped out at 60 mph.
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 Jun 17, 8:27 PM CST, 2 hours 49 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Aberdeen SD 927 PM CDT Mon Jun 17 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Strong to severe thunderstorms are possible tonight into early Tuesday morning over the entire forecast area. Low confidence with regards to timing/coverage, however the environment is favorable for large hail (1.5 - 2.0"), wind gust (60-70mph) and heavy rain. - A break from the active pattern is anticipated by Tuesday night through Wednesday and perhaps even a portion of Thursday, however it quickly turns more active again by the end of the week into the first half of the weekend with a good chance for showers and storms. && .UPDATE... Issued at 917 PM CDT Mon Jun 17 2024 The 00Z KABR sounding had a PWAT of 1.46inches (above the 90th percentile for this day in June). So, heavy rain (mainly excessive rainfall rate) remains a big concern for the rest of tonight. There is also an elevated instability layer above 700hpa and plenty of "cloud- bearing shear" to support elevated supercellular convection. The last time a nocturnal environment with some CAPE and lots of shear was around, Watertown ended up with 1-1.50inch hail. There is a stationary boundary up over North Dakota. There is still a surface warm front down across northern Nebraska, trying to work northward; really steep mid-level lapse rates are beginning to come online across the CWA. The 00Z suite of CAMS are starting to infer the formation of a short-lived squall line (with embedded supercells?) over the western Dakotas during the next hour or two, which they then shift northeast into North Dakota through the early morning hours on Tuesday. There could be a convective watch issued within the next couple of hours. UPDATE Issued at 635 PM CDT Mon Jun 17 2024 See below for an aviation forecast discussion for the 00Z TAFs. && .SHORT TERM /THIS EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/... Issued at 302 PM CDT Mon Jun 17 2024 Some weak convection across the area nearing the Aberdeen area, otherwise its dry this afternoon with just some low/mid cloud and an east wind keeping us relatively cool for mid June. As we get into the evening, a wave approaching from the west will help organize an inverted trough over the area with a surface low in Nebraska. That surface low lifts northeast over into the James valley by morning before zipping into North Dakota. A strong low level jet also develops, with 1/2km winds at 50-55kts, on the eastern side of the inverted trough. Mid level flow is also quite strong, resulting in about 50kts of shear. MUCAPE responds to the low level warm advection generated instability which is very evident in NAM/RAP BUFKIT soundings and results in between 3000-4000 j/kg MUCAPE. Unfortunately CAMS are a little less coordinated in identifying the location for convection, with each showing a rather random coverage through the course of the event. As such, have low confidence on timing, but the high shear and CAPE, along with weakly stable boundary layer conditions, support the risks for large hail (golfball or larger) and damaging winds (60-70mph). Rainfall intensity will be aided by the very high PWATS already brought up in the last couple of AFDs. High pressure follows behind the low, with potential for some shallow instability in the cold advection regime, though NAM shows a cap at about 700mb with about 5kft thickness for convection, so very little chance it will generate any additional moisture. Additional storms will form on the tail end of the front as it moves through western Minnesota. CAMS and deterministic guidance have this outside the CWA for the most part, with any storms forming in the CWA moving rapidly east/northeast. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... Issued at 302 PM CDT Mon Jun 17 2024 This period begins Wednesday with sfc high pressure building in across the Dakotas. This should effectively push the active weather south and east of our forecast area, although there are a few outlier models that want to hang onto some slight chances for showers in our far south and east. Wouldn't be surprised if this is removed from our zones as that forecast time draws closer. Dew point temperatures will fall into the 40s to low 50s with daytime highs in the 70s and light to modest northwest to northeast winds, Wednesday looks to prove to be the nicest, most quiet day of the week in the forecast. An active pattern looks to return quickly going through the latter portion of the week. Upper flow will essentially remain unchanged with southwest flow aloft locally thanks to a persistent upper trough across the northwest CONUS and an upper ridge planted across the eastern CONUS and Deep South. Embedded shortwave energy will once again be generated within this flow across the Rockies and traverse northeastward into the Northern Plains Thursday through Saturday. A sfc frontal boundary draped from west to east across the central CONUS is progged to lift back to the north across NE and into southern SD/southern MN by the end of the day on Thursday into Friday. Lee-side low cyclogenesis is progged to models by this time across CO/WY. Much like the same pattern and set up that's taken place the last day or so and that's forecasted to take place tonight into Tuesday is anticipated to repeat once again late this week. All this means is that our forecast area will see increasing chances for showers and thunderstorms. NBM PoPs of 20-50 percent begin to re- enter our southern zones on Thursday. This could be a bit pre- mature, but we'll have to keep an eye on trends the next couple days. A much better chances for active showers and storms roll into the region late Thursday through the day Friday into Friday night as a more pronounced embedded upper wave moves through the region in conjunction with the aforementioned sfc low sliding northeast through the area from the southwest. This active weather looks to clear our area by late in the period as the upper trough axis shifts across the Northern Plains and returns our upper flow pattern to a more quasi-zonal or northwesterly flow. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY/... Issued at 635 PM CDT Mon Jun 17 2024 Terminals KABR,KATY,KPIR,KMBG We currently have a mix of VFR/MVFR CIGS across the region, and model guidance continues to lower CIGS this evening and overnight down to MVFR/IFR (with a hint of fog development, although some of the visby reduction could be attributable to heavy rainfall in thunderstorms). A 60kt low level jet will also result in wind shear in the lowest 2kft. As for thunderstorm coverage, currently there's little in the way across the area that will effect any terminals. But, the best guess for coverage and timing of overnight convection is in this round of TAFs. Expect plenty of amendments throughout the evening and overnight as storms begin to develop. Overnight convection could be packing some rather large hail. && .ABR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SD...None. MN...None. && UPDATE...Dorn SHORT TERM...Connelly LONG TERM...Vipond AVIATION...Dorn
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Aberdeen SD 338 AM CDT Mon Jun 17 2024 MNZ039-046-SDZ003>011-015>023-033>037-045-048-051-180845- 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- 338 AM CDT Mon Jun 17 2024 /238 AM MDT Mon Jun 17 2024/ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for west central Minnesota, central South Dakota, north central South Dakota and northeast South Dakota. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. There is a slight risk (2/5) for strong to severe storms across the entire region tonight into Tuesday morning. Main threats include large hail and 60-70 mph wind gusts. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. Showers and thunderstorms continue Tuesday, with no severe weather anticipated past the early morning. An unsettled weather pattern expected through the end of the week into the weekend with ongoing shower and thunderstorm chances. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be requested. Weather spotters are encouraged to submit reports to the National Weather Service in Aberdeen. The public can submit reports on our web page, Facebook page, or our X feed. MMM
The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:18 UTC.
5 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The COOP observer estimated the thunderstorm wind gusts topped out at 60 mph.
Several large limbs were observed in the south portion of Aberdeen, with a brief power outage in the southwest portion of town.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Dakota in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, June 2024
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: 1175863, 1175861, 1175862, 1175865, 1175864.