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Dangerous Heat Expands; Heavy Rainfall Threats; Fire Weather Concerns for the West

The heat will increase and expand across the Central Plains, Mississippi Valley, Southeast and into the Eastern U.S. through the week as high pressure builds across the eastern two-thirds of the country. On the northern periphery of this heat, the threat for severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall across the northern Plains and upper Midwest through Tuesday. Critical Fire Weather for the west. Read More >

 

2013 South Dakota Tornadoes

Below is a plot of the tornadoes which occurred in South Dakota in 2013 (click to enlarge):

Below is a brief summary of the 2013 tornado season:

·         2013 was a relatively quiet year with only 14 tornadoes reported across the State

·         Here is the breakdown of 2013 tornadoes by EF-Scale:

o   EF0 = 11

o   EF1 = 3

o   EF2 = 0

o   EF3 = 0

o   EF4 = 0

o   EF5 = 0

·         South Dakota averages about 35 tornadoes per year (based on 2001-2010 data)

·         South Dakota has now seen a below average number of tornadoes since 2010 (click to enlarge)

 

Below is the 10 year total of tornado fatalities by state (2001-2010):

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/ustormaps/2001-2010-fatals.png

 

Fortunately – South Dakota has not had a directly related tornado death since 1999!  Hopefully that trend continues for years to come!