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Overview
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Severe storms with heavy rain, flash flooding, large hail, tornadoes, and damaging straight-line winds moved across northeastern Wyoming and western South Dakota during the afternoon and evening of July 4, 2019. Three short-lived tornadoes occurred in the higher Black Hills (one south of Black Fox Campground, one east of Deerfield Lake, and another northwest of Jewel Cave; damage surveys were done on July 26th and August 2nd to confirm). Otherwise, considerable damage was reported because of flooding and the straight-line winds. Fireworks shows also were cancelled or postponed because of Mother Nature's natural fireworks display. The lightning map to the right shows that there were a lot of cloud-to-ground lightning flashes across the Black Hills area. |
 24-hour cloud-to-ground lightning from 6 am July 4 to 6 am July 5, 2019 |
Tornadoes:
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Tornado - 10 mi NNW Jewell Cave
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| Damage photo from Asher and Betsy Kahler | Damage photo from NWS storm survey |
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Tornado - 7 mi WNW Rochford
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| Damage photo from NWS storm survey | Damage photo from NWS storm survey |
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Tornado - 2 to 3.5 mi NE Deerfield Dam
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| Damage photo from NWS storm survey | Damage photo from NWS storm survey |
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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Wind & Hail:
Strong winds and large hail were reported throughout the area. A 104 mph wind gust was reported a mile northeast of Midland, SD, while a 108 mph wind gust was measured in Stanley County four miles north northeast of Bunker, SD. Two inch diameter hail was reported four miles south of Rapid City, SD with golf ball sized hail six miles west of Oshoto, WY.
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| Photo taken from Brean Road about 5 miles west of Highway 59 (Kelly Anderson) |
Photo taken from Brean Road about 5 miles west of Highway 59 (Kelly Anderson) |
Flooding
Extensive flooding occurred along Bear Butte Creek in Boulder Canyon and Sturgis. Highway 34 was covered with water at the "S-curves" between Sturgis and Fort Meade, the City Park was completely underwater, the 7th Street Bridge at Bear Butte Creek was inundated, as well as most of the other crossings over Bear Butte Creek in Sturgis. In Rapid City, multiple vehicles were stalled on area roads with several water rescues performed, portions of Saint Joseph Street near South Dakota School of Mines & Technology was underwater, and water was running curb to curb on Omaha Street, Mount Rushmore Road, West Boulevard, and Main Street. In Lawrence County, flooding occurred along Bear Butte Creek in Boulder Canyon near the Golf Course, a landslide on Galena Road occurred and culverts were blocked by water and debris, Ruby Flats and Englewood roads were flooded, as well as a portion of Two Bit Road and also Yellow Creek Road.
Hydrographs
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| Bear Butte Creek in Boulder Canyon | Bear Butte Creek in Galena | Elk Creek north of Rapid City |
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| Box Elder Creek near Rapid City | Rapid Creek in Rapid Valley | Hat Creek on Highway 71 (between Ardmore & Cascade Falls) |
Photos & Videos
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| Flooding on Saint Joseph Street near SDSM&T (photo by Shailabh) | 7th Street Bridge in Sturgis (photo from Meade County EM) | Bear Butte Creek Flooding in Sturgis (photo from City of Sturgis) | Bear Butte Creek Flooding in Sturgis (photo from City of Sturgis) |
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| Bear Butte Creek Flooding in Sturgis (photo from City of Sturgis) | Bear Butte Creek Flooding in Sturgis (photo from City of Sturgis) | Bear Butte Creek Flooding in Sturgis (photo from City of Sturgis) | Bear Butte Creek Flooding in Sturgis (photo from City of Sturgis) |
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| Highway 34 in Sturgis "S-curves" around 6 AM (photo by City of Sturgis) |
Highway 34 in Sturgis "S-curves" around 945 AM (photo by Meade County EM) |
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Radar
Above is the radar loop on July 4, 2019 from 600 PM MDT to midnight.
Here is a radar reflectivity image (left) and velocity image (right) at 8:19 pm MDT at the time the tornado was ongoing north-northwest of Jewell Cave. This was not a typical tornadic storm for our area because the tornado occurred in a line (whereas a lot of our tornadoes occur with isolated "supercell" thunderstorms).
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Here is a radar reflectivity image (left) and velocity image (right) at 8:21 pm MDT at the time the tornado occurred southwest of Black Fox Campground. This was not a typical tornadic storm for our area because the tornado occurred in a line (whereas a lot of our tornadoes occur with isolated "supercell" thunderstorms).
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Here is a radar reflectivity image (left) and velocity image (right) at 8:31 pm MDT at the time the tornado occurred east-northeast of Deerfield Reservoir. This was not a typical tornadic storm for our area because the tornado occurred in a line (whereas a lot of our tornadoes occur with isolated "supercell" thunderstorms).
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Storm Reports
Here are the preliminary severe thunderstorm storm reports for July 4, 2019.
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| Preliminary storm reports for July 4, 2019 (green H's represent hail; blue W's represent wind gusts). |
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 ------ ----------------------- -- -------------- ------- 2.00 4 S DOWNTOWN RAPID CITY SD PENNINGTON 0900 PM 1.75 6 W OSHOTO WY CROOK 0358 PM 1.00 3 ESE DWTN RAPID CITY SD PENNINGTON 0905 PM 1.00 2 E STURGIS SD MEADE 0645 PM 1.00 2 S HULETT WY CROOK 0452 PM 0.75 1 S BELLE FOURCHE SD BUTTE 0536 PM Tstm wind reports listed by speed (mph) SPEED LOCATION ST COUNTY TIME ------ ----------------------- -- -------------- ------- 104.00 1 NE MIDLAND SD HAAKON 1124 PM LOTS OF TREES DAMAGED, BRANCHES BROKEN, POWER LINES DOWN. 79.00 3 E PHILIP SD HAAKON 1045 PM 79.00 4 E CACTUS FLAT SD JACKSON 1038 PM 71.00 25 ESE WRIGHT WY CAMPBELL 0655 PM TIME ESTIMATED USING RADAR 70.00 8 S WALL SD PENNINGTON 1005 PM TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR 69.00 6 WNW DOWNTOWN NEWCASTL WY WESTON 0755 PM 65.00 1 NE MIDLAND SD HAAKON 1124 PM 65.00 WALL SD PENNINGTON 1014 PM 62.00 RAPID CITY AIRPORT SD PENNINGTON 0906 PM 60.00 ROCHFORD SD PENNINGTON 0848 PM RAPID CREEK OUT OF IT'S BANKS IN ROCHFORD. 60.00 9 SSW CLARETON WY WESTON 0745 PM 60.00 14 W WRIGHT WY CAMPBELL 0515 PM RAIN OVER THE LAST 24 HOURS 55.00 9 ENE BELVIDERE SD JACKSON 1119 PM 53.00 4 S DOWNTOWN RAPID CITY SD PENNINGTON 0905 PM 52.00 1 E DOWNTOWN RAPID CITY SD PENNINGTON 0909 PM Rain amounts (inches) AMOUNT LOCATION ST COUNTY TIME ------ ----------------------- -- -------------- ------- 5.25 STURGIS SD MEADE 1010 AM 3.00 14 W WRIGHT WY CAMPBELL 0515 PM RAIN OVER THE LAST 24 HOURS 2.79 5 ESE PIEDMONT SD MEADE 0700 AM 2.68 5 ESE DWTN RAPID CITY SD PENNINGTON 0700 AM 2.32 4 NE DWTN RAPID CITY SD PENNINGTON 0700 AM 2.32 1 NE DWTN RAPID CITY SD PENNINGTON 0630 AM RAINFALL LAST 24 HOURS. 2.20 3 WNW DWTN RAPID CITY SD PENNINGTON 0700 AM 2.12 2 SSE DWTN RAPID CITY SD PENNINGTON 0700 AM 2.03 1 ESE DWTN RAPID CITY SD PENNINGTON 0610 AM RAINFALL TOTAL YESTERDAY 1.99 3 WNW DWTN RAPID CITY SD PENNINGTON 0700 AM 1.91 4 NW DOWNTOWN RAPID CIT SD PENNINGTON 0841 AM 1.91 5 SW DWTN RAPID CITY SD PENNINGTON 0700 AM 1.75 6 ESE BOX ELDER SD PENNINGTON 0700 AM 1.74 6 SW DWTN RAPID CITY SD PENNINGTON 0700 AM 1.74 4 NE ROCKERVILLE SD PENNINGTON 0630 AM RAINFALL LAST 24 HOURS. 1.50 TILFORD SD MEADE 0700 AM 1.49 7 W DWTN RAPID CITY SD PENNINGTON 0700 AM 1.45 12 SE BUFFALO GAP SD FALL RIVER 0700 AM 1.45 7 NE SMITHWICK SD FALL RIVER 0645 AM RAINFALL LAST 24 HOURS. 1.37 22 SSW WASTA SD PENNINGTON 0700 AM 1.36 ORAL SD FALL RIVER 0840 AM 1.35 2 ENE MIDLAND SD HAAKON 0700 AM 1.33 10 ESE HERMOSA SD CUSTER 0700 AM 1.33 7 WSW FOLSOM SD CUSTER 0515 AM RAINFALL LAST 24 HOURS. 1.31 MOUNT RUSHMORE SD PENNINGTON 0839 AM 1.30 HOT SPRINGS SD FALL RIVER 0700 AM 1.29 6 NNE DWTN RAPID CITY SD MEADE 0700 AM 1.29 3 NNE JOHNSON SIDING SD PENNINGTON 1048 AM 1.23 2 E COTTONWOOD SD JACKSON 0836 AM 1.18 8 WNW HILL CITY SD PENNINGTON 0700 AM 1.18 6 SSW MYSTIC SD PENNINGTON 0645 AM RAINFALL LAST 24 HOURS. 1.09 HILL CITY SD PENNINGTON 0837 AM 1.07 5 E ELM SPRINGS SD MEADE 0836 AM 1.07 1 E WINNER SD TRIPP 0700 AM 1.06 7 E LAKEVIEW SD TODD 0839 AM 1.06 10 WNW DWTN RAPID CITY SD PENNINGTON 0700 AM 1.04 3 NNW LEAD SD LAWRENCE 0700 AM 1.04 1 E WRIGHT WY CAMPBELL 0801 PM 1.00 3 WNW KADOKA SD JACKSON 0700 AM 1.00 3 WNW KADOKA SD JACKSON 0613 AM RAINFALL LAST 24 HOURS. 0.96 3 ENE KYLE SD OGLALA LAKOTA 0838 AM 0.96 4 W HOT SPRINGS SD FALL RIVER 0700 AM 0.96 1 S RENO JUNCTION WY CAMPBELL 0950 AM 0.93 3 SE PHILIP SD HAAKON 0700 AM 0.90 RED OWL SD MEADE 0843 AM 0.88 1 ESE PACTOLA RESERVOIR SD PENNINGTON 0841 AM 0.88 7 ENE NEWELL SD BUTTE 0700 AM 0.84 HILL CITY SD PENNINGTON 0753 AM 0.84 7 NNE BATESLAND SD BENNETT 0700 AM 0.83 2 SSW NORRIS SD MELLETTE 0700 AM 0.83 14 ENE MARTIN SD BENNETT 0700 AM 0.81 HERMOSA SD CUSTER 0700 AM 0.80 STURGIS SD MEADE 0714 PM IN 1 HOUR 0.75 1 WNW HOOVER SD BUTTE 1127 AM 0.70 4 SSW HILL CITY SD PENNINGTON 0700 AM 0.70 1 ENE ROCHFORD SD PENNINGTON 1016 AM FELL IN 30 MINUTES 0.66 10 NNW WINNER SD TRIPP 0700 AM 0.66 1 SSE BELLE FOURCHE SD BUTTE 0700 AM 0.66 VALE SD BUTTE 0700 AM 0.66 LEAD SD LAWRENCE 0927 AM 0.64 14 SSE MISSION SD TODD 0700 AM 0.64 15 SSE BELVIDERE SD MELLETTE 0700 AM 0.59 17 NW WHITE RIVER SD MELLETTE 0700 AM 0.56 24 SW BISON SD PERKINS 0700 AM 0.55 36 W FAITH SD MEADE 0700 AM 0.55 7 NNW DWTN SPEARFISH SD LAWRENCE 0700 AM 0.53 13 ENE WHITE RIVER SD MELLETTE 0700 AM 0.51 20 SSE BISON SD PERKINS 0700 AM 0.51 4 NNW WHITEWOOD SD LAWRENCE 0700 AM 0.50 2 W OPAL SD MEADE 0838 AM -------------------------------------------------------------- Flooding and Flash Flooding was reported along Bear Butte Creek in Sturgis and in Boulder Canyon between Sturgis and Deadwood, as well as Downtown Rapid City and Rapid Valley.
Environment
The atmosphere was unstable over the Black Hills area on Thursday, July 4th, 2019, per the information obtained from the weather balloon released in East Rapid City at 6 pm MDT (left image). The vertical wind shear (right image) was rather strong, which favored severe storms and damaging winds.
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| July 4, 2019, 6 pm upper-air sounding for Rapid City (00z on the 5th) |
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