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Weather News and Stories

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Ground Turns White from Storms

The southwest corner of the state and the Black Hills saw thunderstorm development on Wednesday, with some storms bringing hail, gusty winds, and even flash flooding.


White Ground in the Black Hills
Photo Credit: Rockerville Fire Department

Starting with the hail reports, the largest hail was found about four miles west of Hermosa, with multiple reports of golf ball size (1.75") hail reported. In central Black Hills near Rockerville, hail to the size of quarters (1.00") dropped from a thunderstorm on Wednesday afternoon.


Smaller hail in the northern end of Black Hills and back towards the Rapid City area brought hail to the size of mothballs (0.50").


Besides hail, thunderstorms brought some gusty winds in and near the Black Hills. Three miles northwest of Scenic in Pennington County, a wind gust of 54mph was recorded. In Fall River County, a thunderstorm wind gust of 50mph was reported about 14 miles northwest of Edgemont.


Hail in the Black Hills
Photo Credit: Rockerville Fire Department

One thunderstorm in Custer County stayed around for some time, dropping heavy rain and creating flash flooding west of Hermosa. Battle Creek Road to Bender Ridge Road south of State Highway 40 became impassable due to Flash Flooding.


Flooding in Custer County in the Black Hills
Photo Credit: Battle Creek Fire Department

You can check out South Dakota's last seven days' storm and rainfall reports from the National Weather Service on our Storm Reports page.

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