Tornadoes · United States · South Dakota

2019 tornadoes in South Dakota

25 tornadoes touched down in South Dakota in 2019, about the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2018 2020 The whole country in 2019

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 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.

Every tornado in South Dakota in 2019

June 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 156:05 PM CDTEF0Deuel0.110

June 29 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 292:35 PM MDTEF1Bennett5.8720

June 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 304:23 PM CDTEF0Gregory0.725

July 3 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 34:06 PM MDTEF0Bennett0.07
July 34:19 PM MDTEF0Bennett0.07
July 34:37 PM MDTEF0Bennett0.07

July 4 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 48:17 PM MDTEF1Pennington1.7250
July 48:21 PM MDTEF1Pennington0.3200
July 48:29 PM MDTEF1Pennington1.2200

July 17 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 171:23 AM MDTUnratedBennett0.02
July 175:22 AM CDTEF1Hutchinson1.750$100,000

July 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 185:15 PM CDTEF0Minnehaha0.45$2,000

July 28 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 288:53 PM CDTUnratedCharles Mix1.210

August 6 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 610:25 PM CDTEF1Gregory3.8752$7.0 million

August 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 94:58 PM CDTEF0Lyman0.110

August 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 155:19 PM CDTEF0Marshall0.375

September 9 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 93:37 PM CDTEF0Codington2.620
September 93:39 PM CDTEF0Hamlin3.240
September 96:55 PM CDTEF0Day0.110
September 98:03 PM CDTEF1Day1.680
September 98:14 PM CDTEF0Day0.210

September 10 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 108:13 PM CDTEF0Bon Homme1.420$6,000
September 1011:24 PM CDTEF2Lincoln0.6508$6.8 million
September 1011:24 PM CDTEF2Lincoln0.950$1.2 million
September 1011:28 PM CDTEF2Minnehaha0.775$3.0 million

Crossed into South Dakota

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into South Dakota. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 35:28 PM CDTEF0Weston, WY to SD4.750

Nearby

Every tornado in South Dakota since 1950Warnings in force in South DakotaThe live radar over South Dakota

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.