EF1 tornado, Rauville, South Dakota, May 12, 2022

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.

Rating

EF1

Date

May 12, 2022

Touchdown

6:02 PM CDT (23:02 UTC)

Lifted

6:03 PM CDT (23:03 UTC)

On the ground

1 minutes

Path length

0.2 miles (0.3 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Codington County

Touchdown point

45.005, -97.190

Lift-off point

45.007, -97.192

Record number

2205121702-02

29 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ABR, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

• View of the damage track to the northwest into a farm field.
• Western corner of the house and the northwest facing side of the house. The western corner had a portion of the roof removed and the side collapsing into the roof. There was significant insulation packed against the grates of the air conditioner, leading to the center of the tornado likely being just to the east of that location.
• The metal roof on the southeast facing side of the house had been removed. A two car garage was located on the right side of the image/house, which was completely lost.
• Looking southwest at where the garage was located and missing portions of the roof over the house.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A derecho developed in south central South Dakota and traveled northeast into eastern and northeastern South Dakota. This thunderstorm complex generated 14 total tornadoes across northeastern South Dakota in addition to a broad area of straight-line wind damage with measured speeds up to 102 mph in Gary, SD. The damage swath was so large from this system that it encompassed most of northeastern South Dakota and western Minnesota, with damage to a countless number of homes and trees. The most impactful tornado was an EF-2 which damaged numerous homes in the town of Castlewood and drew national media attention. Governor Kristi Noem requested a Presidential Disaster Declaration, which was later granted, and signed Executive Order 2022-06 to help residents recover from related storm damage. Estimated statewide damage to public infrastructure is assessed at 6.7 million dollars across 20 counties and two reservations. South Dakota National Guard activated personnel to help with clear debris and provide security for the town of Castlewood during cleanup.

A tornado occurred 4 miles north of Lake Kampeska. The tornado|hit the northeast side of a house and removed the the garage from|the house, along with part of the roof. The garage was tossed to|the north. An outbuilding to the north of the house was also|destroyed and thrown to the north and northwest. The debris was|scattered at least a half mile north and northwest of the|location of the house. The family sought shelter in the basement|of the home and they were safe.

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

21 minutes of warning. NWS ABR issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:41 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:50 UTC and running to 02:06 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate 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 19:59 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 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.

Watertown (ATY), 11 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:59 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.

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

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2022 tornado in South DakotaEvery tornado in South Dakota since 1950Warnings in force in South Dakota nowThe forecast where you are

31 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

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