Severe storms rock central South Dakota with tornado, large hail, strong winds

July 19, 2023

PIERRE, S.D.–Central South Dakota saw a little bit of everything a severe thunderstorm can bring you Tuesday night. An episode of severe weather started near Pierre at six pm.

Shortly after, reports of large hail were called in to the National Weather Service. The largest hail reported in Pierre measured grapefruit size, and fell a little before seven o’clock.

Just a few minutes before that, the public reported a narrow rope tornado (pictured) in Stanley County, 11 miles south of Fort Pierre.

As the storms moved southeast into Lyman, Brule and Buffalo Counties, wind reports started to increase.

Two semi-trucks were blown over in Lyman County near Oacoma and Reliance just after eight pm.

A wind gust of 100 miles was recorded two miles west of Oacoma at 8:15 last night. A gust of 74 miles an hour was reported at Reliance.

There were 11 reports of hail at one-inch or larger in the Pierre/Fort Pierre area.