Mother Nature Plays Ball

A strong supercell thunderstorm in west-central, South Dakota dropped very large hail on Sunday evening. Hail to the size of baseballs and softballs were reported just a couple of miles outside of Belle Fourche shortly before the storm moved into town. The large hail was driven by powerful hurricane-force winds over 75mph winds.

In the town of Belle Fourche, the fire chief reported the hail size was up to the ping pong balls (1.50") with the size getting bigger while the report came in.

Down towards the southeast of Belle Fourche, baseball (2.75") size hail dropped from this storm about two miles northwest of Saint Onge. Also, a wind gust of 91mph was recorded by a Mesonet site in the town of Saint Onge.