Tornadoes · United States · South Dakota · 2007

EF0 tornado, Wolsey, South Dakota, May 5, 2007

This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Beadle County on May 5, 2007, touching down at 8:36 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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 mphthis tornado

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    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
EF0
Date
May 5, 2007
Touchdown
8:36 PM CDT (01:36 UTC)
Lifted
8:37 PM CDT (01:37 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Beadle County
Touchdown point
44.431, -98.513
Lift-off point
44.432, -98.514
Record number
0705051936-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Numerous thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening of May 5th produced large hail, damaging winds, several tornadoes, and flash flooding in southeast South Dakota. Significant damage was reported from several locations.

A brief tornado caused no reported damage.

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

The warnings

9 minutes of warning. NWS FSD issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:27 UTC, 9 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:39 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:34 UTC and running to 02:50 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:02 UTC03:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningFSD
21:34 UTC02:50 UTCTornado WatchFSD
22:22 UTC22:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSD
00:05 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSD
00:38 UTC01:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSD
00:43 UTC01:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSD
01:20 UTC02:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSD
01:27 UTC01:39 UTCTornado WarningFSD
02:21 UTC02:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSD
02:50 UTC07:59 UTCTornado WatchFSD

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. The outlook in force was issued at 00:59 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.

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), 12:00Z

10.4 hours after it, 53 km from the path. May 6, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 2007-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 10 joules per kilogram, CIN -216, lifted condensation level 607 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 2007-05-06The 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 225 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 52 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
10 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-216 J/kg
Surface CAPE
30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
607 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
225 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
250 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.3
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:38 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
23:25 UTCHAIL 14 S LaneJerauld, SD
23:33 UTCFLASH FLOODMillerHand, SDSTREET FLOODING IN MILLER
00:05 UTCHAIL 0.755 N DanforthHand, SD
00:22 UTCTSTM WND DMG11 N WessingtonBeadle, SDCALF SHELTERS TIPPED. SEVERAL LARGE TREES DOWN.
00:30 UTCHAIL 0.757 Wsw Wessington SpringJerauld, SD
00:35 UTCFLASH FLOODMillerHand, SD2.8 TO 3.2 INCHES OF RAIN CAUSING FLOODING IN MILLER
01:00 UTCHAIL 17 W WolseyBeadle, SDLOCATION 205TH STREET AND 378 AVE
01:18 UTCFLASH FLOODRedfieldSpink, SD3 INCHES OF RAIN IN PAST 45 MINUTES...FLOODING IN REDFIELD.
01:36 UTCTORNADO3 Nw WolseyBeadle, SD
02:05 UTCFLASH FLOOD10 Nnw Gann ValleyBuffalo, SDSTANDING WATER ON ROADS...FIELDS AND DITCHES FULL. 4.5 INCHES OF RAIN TODAY.
02:29 UTCHAIL 0.886 S HitchcockBeadle, SD
02:43 UTCFLASH FLOODRedfieldSpink, SD8 INCHES OF RAIN IN 5 HOURS MEASURED BY EMERGENCY MANAGER.

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 May 5, 2007

96 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 51:21 AM CDTEF1Barton, KS5.5100$2.0 million
May 51:28 AM CDTEF1Barton, KS6.2125$57,000
May 51:46 AM CDTEF1Barton, KS5.2100$40,000
May 52:06 AM CDTEF0Ellsworth, KS0.540$13,000
May 512:23 PM CDTEF1Custer, NE20.6150$150,000
May 511:57 AM MDTEF0Logan, CO0.150
May 51:03 PM CDTEF1Custer, NE40.7220$40,000
May 52:05 PM CDTEF1Brown, NE14.3220$40,000
May 53:48 PM CDTEF0Knox, NE11.4100$10,000
May 53:57 PM CDTEF1Keya Paha, NE16.71001$100,000
May 54:31 PM CDTEF1Miner, SD0.150$2,000
May 54:33 PM CDTEF2Bon Homme, SD3.5100$50,000
May 54:35 PM CDTEF2Miner, SD1.0100$20,000
May 54:43 PM CDTEF2Bon Homme, SD4.0100$100,000
May 54:48 PM CDTEF0Pratt, KS1.430
May 54:58 PM CDTEF1Saline, NE18.3400
May 54:59 PM CDTEF1Pratt, KS11.1150
May 55:00 PM CDTEF0Hutchinson, SD0.250
May 55:10 PM CDTEF0Hutchinson, SD0.150
May 55:15 PM CDTEF0Knox, NE1.5200
May 55:16 PM CDTEF1Hutchinson, SD5.0100
May 55:17 PM CDTEF0Knox, NE3.0100
May 55:20 PM CDTEF1Hanson, SD1.9100$10,000
May 55:24 PM CDTEF0Knox, NE5.3150
May 55:28 PM CDTEF1Knox, NE8.9440
May 55:36 PM CDTEF0Stafford, KS4.5100
May 55:41 PM CDTEF1Hanson, SD0.5100$10,000
May 55:43 PM CDTEF2Knox, NE5.55003$1.0 million
May 55:45 PM CDTEF0Knox, NE3.5100
May 55:50 PM CDTEF0Davison, SD3.550
May 55:52 PM CDTEF0Yankton, SD0.150
May 55:52 PM CDTEF1Yankton, SD1.01001$100,000
May 55:59 PM CDTEF2Osborne, KS7.57511$150,000
May 56:00 PM CDTEF0Edwards, KS2.475
May 56:05 PM CDTEF3Aurora, SD4.0200$300,000
May 56:09 PM CDTEF0Rice, KS0.340
May 56:15 PM CDTEF1Sanborn, SD0.5100$20,000
May 56:15 PM CDTEF0Rice, KS1.540
May 56:17 PM CDTEF2Yankton, SD0.5100$100,000
May 56:30 PM CDTEF0Gregory, SD0.150
May 56:30 PM CDTEF0Gregory, SD0.150
May 56:33 PM CDTEF0Comanche, KS1.930
May 56:35 PM CDTEF0Charles Mix, SD0.150
May 56:40 PM CDTEF1Brule, SD0.5100
May 56:45 PM CDTEF0Barton, KS0.150
May 56:54 PM CDTEF0Barton, KS0.240
May 57:01 PM CDTEF2Edwards, KS2.775
May 57:02 PM CDTEF0Kiowa, KS7.875
May 57:09 PM CDTEF0Mills, IA4.080
May 57:20 PM CDTEF0Collingsworth, TX2.8100
May 57:22 PM CDTEF2Kiowa, KS26.9880
May 57:23 PM CDTEF2Hanson, SD10.5400$60,000
May 57:26 PM CDTEF0Kiowa, KS1.350
May 57:27 PM CDTEF1Collingsworth, TX7.0200
May 57:32 PM CDTEF1Barton, KS4.0100$60,000
May 57:40 PM CDTEF0Roger Mills, OK0.8100
May 57:47 PM CDTEF1Miner, SD0.2100$10,000
May 57:47 PM CDTEF0Miner, SD0.150
May 57:50 PM CDTEF1Edwards, KS1.550
May 57:50 PM CDTEF1Fremont, IA11.3200

All 97 of them

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.