May 22nd was a day that had high risk/high reward written all over it. There really wasn’t much anywhere else to chase. We played the triple point in north central South Dakota and were rewarded with one of the prettiest and most violent tornado producing storms of the year. Several storms formed along the triple point and congealed into one beastly tornadic supercell that produced at least half dozen or more tornadoes. The large wedge in the photos below was an EF4 and we were able to get within a quarter mile of it before it started spewing debris around us. The structure of the monster was breathtaking as it dropped tornado after tornado between Bowdle and points northeast from there. Enjoy the photos and video, but keep in mind people’s lives were changed by the monster.
August 7, 2009 Sturgis, South Dakota Hailstorm
August 7th looked like a decent setup for western South Dakota. Good shear and moisture, moderate instability and strong lift would help fire off several supercells, including the Sturgis storm. We followed that storm from the time it passed Sturgis until it died near Murdo well into the night. It left behind a path of massive hail damage. It also injured numerous bikers and caused millions of dollars in damage at the Sturgis Bike Week Rally.
June 24, 2009 South Dakota Long Lived Supercell
June 24th had potential. Good deep layer shear, decent moisture, high instability and a mesolow along an outflow boundary would provide all the ingredients to produce several supercells in South Dakota. We spent part of the afternoon in Murdo and waited for something to happen. Finally by early evening, a tornado warned supercell formed and right turned strongly into far south central South Dakota and eventually into Nebraska. This storm had great structure and tried several times to produce a tornado. It did produce hail to baseball size.
June 16, 2009 South Dakota Tornado Warned Supercell
June 16th was a surprise day. We were figuring on a down day or a day that had very marginal potential. By late morning, several storms developed along the east side of a surface low in northern South Dakota. Many were tornado warned. We couldn’t get there in time coming up from Salina, Kansas, but we did manage to catch the storm that was the largest and longest tornado warned in South Dakota. It had beautiful structure and very large hail. Also it produced a large, but weak tornado that ripped through the Menno area causing lots of tree damage and damage to several tin buildings.
Late May 2009 Images
From mid through late May, nature did not cooperate with an active severe weather pattern. A large ridge of high pressure, along with a persistent gulf coastal frontal boundary would prevent decent moisture from returning to the plains states. When you operate a tour, you still have to find the little nuggets nature gives you. The pictures below are those nuggets from May 19 through 31st.
July 15th/16th Nebraska and South Dakota Tornado Warned Storms
July 15 and 16 took me to northern Nebraska and South Dakota to play storms along the dryline. Shear wasn’t expected to be very strong, but enough to help generate supercells, and to my surprise tornado warned supercells. July 15th took us to Nebraska where a large supercell developed west of O’Neill. This storm was fairly high based, but rotating nonetheless. It produced golfball sized hail and had very high winds once it lined out. July 16th took me to central South Dakota along the Missouri River where numerous severe storms formed near dark. Lightning was decent and the hail was large, also to golfball sized.
June 26th, 2008 South Dakota Tornadic Supercell
June 26th ended up being my favorite chase day in June. Good moisture, a boundary and strong shortwave energy would set the stage for supercells across North and South Dakota. I started the day in Rapid City and ended up near Mobridge as two tornadic storms formed not far from the North and South Dakota border west of the river. It was absolutely stunning scenery watching this storm interact with the surroundings! It produced at least two tornadoes, possibly more as it wrapped in rain. It also produced tons of hail to tennisball sized. The structure later in the evening was stunning!
June 21st, 2007 South Dakota and Nebraska Supercells
It is a rare occasion that you get woken up at 6 AM with a TORNADO WARNED supercell out your window! June 21st was one of those days! A cluster of supercells developed overnight and moved southeast across south central South Dakota. We intercepted one near Kimball, SD that produced 4.25 diameter hail! Later that day, an old boundary would provide the lift and convergence to develop the best storm of the day, that also produced hail to 3.5″ in diameter!
June 12th, 2007 South Dakota Supercells
June 12th was the worst of nightmares weatherwise. Great shear was all the was present this day, as too many overnight thunderstorms would not allow much instability to form. Storms formed along a boundary, with no cap, and became outflow dominated quickly. Too many storms would form from Nebraska, northward through North Dakota. Despite several tornado watch boxes, no decent tornadoes developed this day. The images here were taken within 50 miles of Murdo, SD.
June 6th, 2007 South Dakota Badlands Tornadic Supercell
June 6th had all the ingredients for significant severe storms, including tornadoes. Good shear, a strong wave, good instability and respectable moisture would set the stage for supercell storms. SPC issued a MODERATE RISK and associated tornado watch box for western South Dakota. By 1 PM we had arrived in Wall and stopped for lunch. A couple of small towers were going up south of us. After 45 minutes of our lunch break, a supercell rapidly developed south of town. As we gathered the clients and headed out, it didn’t take long for a tornado to form. This tornado, although not terribly strong, stayed on the ground for 25 minutes. We could never get any closer than 15 miles from it. Later, the storm turned into a monster HP supercell before lining out.
