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Overview
During the evening of June 21, 2015 a supercell traveled across Harding, Perkins, and Ziebach Counties in northwestern South Dakota, bringing large hail, strong winds, and six tornadoes. Hail to the size of baseballs was reported 7 miles southeast of Meadow with numerous reports of golfball size hail near Bison and Meadow. Eyewitness spotter and chaser reports confirmed six distinct touchdowns with this supercell. The tornadoes remained in mainly rural areas of Perkins and Ziebach Counties with little to no damage being reported.

Tracks for all six reported tornadoes.
Tornadoes:
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Tornado - North-Northwest of Prairie City, SD
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Tornado - Northeast of Prairie City, SD
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Tornado - East of Bison, SD
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Tornado - North of Chance, SD
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Tornado - Northeast of Chance, SD
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Tornado - Southwest of Glad Valley, SD
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The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:
| EF0 Weak 65-85 mph |
EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph |
EF2 Significant 111-135 mph |
EF3 Severe 136-165 mph |
EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph |
EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph |
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Photos
All photos below were provided courtesy of Roger Hill.
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| Tornado #1 looking east-southeast from about 6 miles east of Ralph, SD | Tornado #5 looking north-northeast from about 5 miles south-southwest of Meadow, SD | Tornado #6 looking north-northeast from near Faith, SD at 8:50 pm MDT (about 20 miles away from the tornado) | Supercell thunderstorm looking north-northeast from near Faith, SD at 8:52 pm MDT |
Radar
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| Tornado track as approximated by Doppler radar derived rotation | Radar reflectivity (left) and velocity (right) of the tornado near Meadow at 8:03 pm MDT |
Storm Reports
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
1001 AM MDT TUE JUN 23 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0656 PM TORNADO 10 SW LODGEPOLE 45.71N 102.81W
06/21/2015 PERKINS SD TRAINED SPOTTER
ROPED OUT AND LIFTED AROUND 720PM JUST EAST OF HIGHWAY
75 AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 20.
0700 PM FUNNEL CLOUD 7 SW LODGEPOLE 45.75N 102.78W
06/21/2015 PERKINS SD TRAINED SPOTTER
0740 PM TORNADO 3 ENE BISON 45.54N 102.40W
06/21/2015 PERKINS SD TRAINED SPOTTER
LARGE BOWL SHAPED TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN FOR ABOUT TEN
MINUTES
0806 PM TORNADO 4 SW MEADOW 45.49N 102.27W
06/21/2015 PERKINS SD TRAINED SPOTTER
ELEPHANT TRUNK TORNADO ON GROUND FOR AROUND 5 MINUTES.
0850 PM TORNADO 7 WSW GLAD VALLEY 45.36N 101.92W
06/21/2015 ZIEBACH SD TRAINED SPOTTER
SLENDER ROPE ON THE GROUND FOR ABOUT 2 MINUTES.
THE STORM REPORTS LISTED BELOW ARE IN DESCENDING ORDER AND MAY NOT NECESSARILY
BE THE FINAL STORM REPORTS.
HAIL REPORTS LISTED BY SIZE (INCHES)
SIZE LOCATION ST COUNTY TIME
------ ----------------------- -- -------------- -------
2.75 7 SE MEADOW SD PERKINS 0815 PM
LASTED 15 MINUTES
2.00 8 ESE MEADOW SD PERKINS 0813 PM
2.00 6 S LODGEPOLE SD PERKINS 0707 PM
FOUND NUMEROUS GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL STONES IN
YARD 30 MINUTES AFTER THE STORM PASSED
THROUGH.
1.75 4 NW MEADOW SD PERKINS 0740 PM
1.50 9 NNE ALVA WY CROOK 1100 PM
1.00 9 NE LADNER SD HARDING 0620 PM
LASTED 5 MINUTES
TSTM WIND REPORTS LISTED BY SPEED (MPH)
SPEED LOCATION ST COUNTY TIME
------ ----------------------- -- -------------- -------
70.00 8 N HAMILL SD TRIPP 0145 AM
70.00 8 ENE BELVIDERE SD JACKSON 0145 AM
70.00 9 NNW CREIGHTON SD PENNINGTON 1235 AM
LARGE TREES BLOWN DOWN...SMALL HAIL LASTED 15
MIN
62.00 2 ENE COTTONWOOD SD JACKSON 0110 AM
61.00 2 ENE SHERIDAN LAKE SD PENNINGTON 1210 AM
TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR
60.00 11 NNE WOOD SD MELLETTE 0225 AM
60.00 6 NE OTTUMWA SD HAAKON 0115 AM
60.00 7 N BELVIDERE SD JACKSON 1230 AM
60.00 3 SE DOWNTOWN SPEARFISH SD LAWRENCE 1130 PM
3 DIAMETER TREE LIMBS KNOCKED OFF TREES
60.00 6 W ALADDIN WY CROOK 1115 PM
LIVE TREE LIMBS OF 1 TO 3 IN DIAMETER RIPPED
OFF TREES FROM WIND
60.00 13 W LODGEPOLE SD PERKINS 0655 PM
Environment
NWS Rapid City balloon information showed a very unstable air mass with strong vertical wind shear. The surface map showed dewpoints in the mid 60s feeding into the area.
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| Sounding for Rapid City at 6 pm MDT 21 June 2015 (00z the 22nd) | Hodograph for Rapid City at 6 pm MDT 21 June 2015 (00z the 22nd) | Surface map valid 6 pm MDT 21 June 2015 |
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