Tornadoes · United States · South Dakota · 2021

EF0 tornado, Mound City, South Dakota, June 7, 2021

This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Campbell County on June 7, 2021, touching down at 8:57 PM CDT and reaching 10 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
June 7, 2021
Touchdown
8:57 PM CDT (01:57 UTC)
Lifted
8:58 PM CDT (01:58 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
10 yards (9 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Campbell County
Touchdown point
45.660, -100.050
Lift-off point
45.661, -100.048
Record number
2106071957-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A brief tornado was produced by a severe thunderstorm in Campbell County during the evening on June 7th with no damage reported. Quarter sized hail was also reported in McPherson County.

A tornado touched down briefly with no damage reported.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 22:45 UTC and running to 04:23 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:45 UTC04:23 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchABR
23:02 UTC23:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningABR
00:34 UTC01:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningABR
01:26 UTC02:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningABR

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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:44 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.

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), 00:00Z

2.0 hours before the tornado, 133 km from the path. June 8, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 2021-06-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1478 joules per kilogram, CIN -69, lifted condensation level 2452 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 2021-06-08The 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 17 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 44 knots.193958Sfc1 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
1478 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-69 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1884 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2452 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
184 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
5.5
0-3 km lapse rate
8.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), 12:00Z

10.0 hours after it, 133 km from the path. June 8, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2021-06-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 534 joules per kilogram, CIN -518, lifted condensation level 1161 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2021-06-08The 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 267 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 35 knots.193958Sfc1 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
534 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-518 J/kg
Surface CAPE
293 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1161 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
267 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
165 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-1.5
0-3 km lapse rate
3.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Mobridge (MBG), 31 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:00 UTC180° 13 kt1001.7
00:05 UTC180° 11 kt1001.7
00:10 UTC170° 11 kt1001.4
00:15 UTC170° 11 kt1001.4
00:20 UTC160° 10 kt1001.4
00:25 UTC160° 8 kt1001.4
00:30 UTC160° 7 kt1001.7
00:35 UTC130° 4 kt1002
00:40 UTC140° 5 kt1002
00:45 UTC140° 8 kt1002
00:50 UTC150° 8 kt1001.7
00:52 UTC9160150° 8 kt1001.7VCTS
00:55 UTC160° 8 kt1001.7
01:00 UTC160° 8 kt1001.7
01:01 UTC9259160° 8 kt1001.7
01:05 UTC170° 7 kt1001.7
01:10 UTC9260180° 5 kt1002VCTS
01:10 UTC180° 5 kt1002
01:15 UTC300° 4 kt1002
01:20 UTC360° 8 kt1002.4
01:25 UTC906310° 8 kt1002.4
01:30 UTC360° 7 kt1002.7
01:35 UTC10° 5 kt1002.7
01:40 UTC360° 4 kt1002.7
01:45 UTC40° 4 kt1002.7
01:50 UTC0° 0 kt1002.7
01:52 UTC87650° 0 kt1002.7TS
01:55 UTC50° 4 kt1002.7
02:00 UTC60° 7 kt1003
02:05 UTC40° 5 kt1003
02:10 UTC876330° 4 kt1003
02:15 UTC0° 0 kt1003.4
02:20 UTC0° 0 kt1003.4
02:25 UTC0° 0 kt1003.4
02:30 UTC270° 2 kt1003.4
02:35 UTC310° 5 kt1003.4
02:40 UTC350° 5 kt1003.7
02:45 UTC10° 4 kt1003.7
02:50 UTC360° 5 kt1003.4
02:52 UTC8063350° 5 kt1003.4
02:55 UTC10° 5 kt1003.7
03:00 UTC330° 5 kt1003.7
03:05 UTC330° 2 kt1003.7
03:10 UTC350° 2 kt1003.7
03:15 UTC330° 2 kt1003.7
03:25 UTC340° 7 kt1003.7
03:30 UTC350° 9 kt1004.1
03:35 UTC330° 5 kt1004.1
03:40 UTC310° 4 kt1004.4
03:50 UTC340° 4 kt1004.4
03:52 UTC7763340° 6 kt1004.4
03:55 UTC350° 5 kt1004.4

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 129 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:54 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
23:14 UTCHAIL 12 Ene GreenwayMcpherson, SDRADAR ESTIMATED TIME.
01:57 UTCTORNADO5 S Mound CityCampbell, SDSTORM CHASER REPORT AND PICTURE OF A BRIEF GROUND CIRCULATION BELOW A FUNNEL. LOCATION ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2021 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 7, 2021

4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 74:26 PM CDTUnratedUnion, AR1.625
June 74:59 PM MDTEF2Weld, CO7.550$531,000
June 78:57 PM CDTUnratedStutsman, ND1.140
June 79:20 PM CDTEF0Cass, ND0.320

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.