Tornadoes · United States · South Dakota · 2007

EF1 tornado, Allen, South Dakota, June 6, 2007

This EF1 tornado ran 7.2 miles across Bennett County on June 6, 2007, touching down at 4:10 PM CDT and reaching 400 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $25,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
June 6, 2007
Touchdown
4:10 PM CDT (21:10 UTC)
Lifted
4:35 PM CDT (21:35 UTC)
On the ground
25 minutes
Path length
7.2 miles (11.5 km)
Path width
400 yards (366 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$25,000
Counties
Bennett County
Touchdown point
43.290, -102.200
Lift-off point
43.392, -102.085
Record number
0706061510-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Severe thunderstorms occurred ahead of a strong cold front passing across southwest and south central South Dakota. Tornadoes, large hail, and very strong winds developed with these storms as they slowly tracked to the east and northeast.

The tornado that formed south of Kyle in Shannon County briefly crossed into Bennett County, dissipating before reaching BIA Highway 4 (Allen Road). Location and time were based on Doppler radar and spotter reports.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

0 minutes of warning. NWS UNR issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:10 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:05 UTC and running to 00:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:05 UTC00:00 UTCTornado WatchUNR
20:35 UTC21:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningUNR
21:10 UTC22:00 UTCTornado WarningUNR
21:55 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningUNR

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:56 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Rapid City, SD (KUNR), 12:00Z

9.2 hours before the tornado, 100 km from the path. June 6, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 2007-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1559 joules per kilogram, CIN -237, lifted condensation level 2235 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 2007-06-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 120 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 24 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1559 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-237 J/kg
Surface CAPE
28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2235 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Rapid City, SD (KUNR), 00:00Z

2.8 hours after it, 100 km from the path. June 7, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Rapid City, SD at 00:00Z on 2007-06-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 115 joules per kilogram, CIN -46, lifted condensation level 1966 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Rapid City, SD at 00:00Z on 2007-06-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -142 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 38 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
115 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-46 J/kg
Surface CAPE
490 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1966 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-142 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-44 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.2
0-3 km lapse rate
7.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Rapid City radar (KUDX), 103 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:11 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
21:10 UTCTORNADO 19 S KyleShannon, SDTORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT 9 MILES SOUTH OF KYLE AT 310 PM MDT...JUST WEST OF AMERICAN HORSE CREEK ROAD. IT LIFTED 5.5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF KYLE AT 335 PM MDT. SEVERAL POWER POLES WERE BROKEN AND TREES WERE BLOWN OVER ALON
21:11 UTCTORNADO 19 S KyleShannon, SDTORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT 9 MILES SOUTH OF KYLE AT 310 PM MDT...JUST WEST OF AMERICAN HORSE CREEK ROAD. IT LIFTED 5.5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF KYLE AT 335 PM MDT. SEVERAL POWER POLES WERE BROKEN AND TREES WERE BLOWN OVER ALON
21:11 UTCTORNADO9 Sw KyleShannon, SDNUMEROUS REPORTS OF TORNADO ON GROUND SOUTH OF KYLE. BASED ON PRELIMINARY REPORTS AND RADAR DATA...TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT 311 PM 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF KYLE AND LIFTED AT 335 PM 6 MILES SOUTHEAST OF KYLE. REPORTS OF PO
21:30 UTCTSTM WND GST 605 Ne Potato CreekJackson, SD
22:00 UTCTSTM WND GST 6010 S InteriorJackson, SD
22:00 UTCHAIL 0.7510 S InteriorJackson, SD
22:00 UTCHAIL 0.882 S Potato CreekJackson, SD
22:25 UTCTSTM WND GST 675 Ne PorcupineShannon, SD
22:45 UTCTSTM WND GST 656 Ese InteriorJackson, SD60-70 MPH
22:45 UTCHAIL 18 Ese InteriorJackson, SD40-50 MPH WINDS
22:45 UTCHAIL 1.756 Ese InteriorJackson, SD
22:45 UTCHAIL 1.759 Ese InteriorJackson, SD50+ MPH WINDS
22:50 UTCTORNADO5 Sw KadokaJackson, SDRAIN WRAPPED TORNADO LASTED 5 MINUTES

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in South DakotaEvery tornado in South Dakota since 1950Warnings in force in South Dakota nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 6, 2007

4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 62:35 PM MDTEF0Campbell, WY3.730
June 62:54 PM MDTEF0Campbell, WY0.510
June 64:49 PM MDTEF0Jackson, SD0.510
June 69:20 PM CDTEF0Custer, NE0.120

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.