Widespread Wind Damage from Friday's Storms
- WeatherSD
- Aug 16
- 2 min read
A strong line of severe thunderstorms originating in the southwest of South Dakota caused extensive damage throughout the state on Friday night. Many trees were toppled, power outages occurred due to downed power lines, and several branches and traffic signs were knocked over.
The Watertown Airport recorded a thunderstorm wind gust of 71mph during the overnight event. By morning, community members found widespread damage and began the clean-up process.
On the south end of town, one homeowner found two trees uprooted and had landed on their home and a parked vehicle in the driveway.
Other communities had storm damage as wind gusts over 60mph pushed through the overnight hours. In Castlewood and Clear Lake, trees damage could be found on Saturday morning.
The most powerful winds were recorded in Hamlin County, where a storm gust of 80 mph was reported four miles southwest of Stone Bridge. Just outside of Winner, there was a wind gust of 79 mph, while near Lane and in Tunerville, a storm gust of 77 mph was recorded. Below are the official weather reports from the National Weather Service Offices in South Dakota from Friday's thunderstorms.
Thunderstorm Wind Gusts:
4 mi WSW Stone Bridge - 80.00mph
1 mi NE Winner - 79.00mph
1 mi W Lane - 77.00mph
Tunerville - 77.00mph
1 mi ENE White Lake - 73.00mph
1 mi S Kimball - 71.00mph
5 mi W Plankinton - 71.00mph
1 mi SE Watertown Airport - 71.00mph
16 mi SW Milesville - 70.00mph
2 mi W Oacoma - 69.00mph
2 mi ENE Letcher - 69.00mph
4 mi ENE Poinsett Colony - 69.00mph
7 mi ESE Rosebud - 68.00mph
6 mi NNE Dixon - 68.00mph
6 mi SSW Oacoma - 66.00mph
2 mi S Kimball - 66.00mph
12 mi N Kimball - 65.00mph
7 mi ESE Rosebud - 63.00mph
8 mi S Wall - 62.00mph
1 mi N Chamberlain - 62.00mph
4 mi SW Chamberlain - 62.00mph
3 mi NE Plankinton - 61.00mph
3 mi ESE Pine Ridge - 60.00mph
7 mi W Dwtn Spearfish - 60.00mph
13 mi W Oglala - 60.00mph
2 mi W Hamill - 60.00mph
1 mi W Lane - 60.00mph
11 mi SSE Hereford - 59.00mph
3 mi SE Reliance - 59.00mph
3 mi S Chamberlain - 59.00mph
3 mi N Mitchell - 59.00mph
4 mi W Bryant - 59.00mph
3 mi N Gann Valley - 59.00mph
10 mi NNW Ottumwa - 58.00mph
4 mi SSE Witten - 58.00mph
2 mi E Dixon - 58.00mph
2 mi S Kimball - 58.00mph
2 mi NNW Huron - 58.00mph
1 mi W Howard - 58.00mph
4 mi S Arlington - 58.00mph
10 mi SSW Aurora - 58.00mph
9 mi SW Batesland - 56.00mph
Rapid City Arpt - 55.00mph
11 mi W Hot Springs - 54.00mph
12 mi E Oelrichs - 53.00mph
12 mi E Oelrichs - 51.00mph
9 mi SW Batesland - 51.00mph
All the South Dakota storm reports are constantly updated on our Storm Reports page.
