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Significant and Catastrophic Flooding in the Pacific Northwest; Very Cold Temperatures in the Northern Plains

The atmospheric river over the Pacific Northwest will begin to subside today, but lingering rainfall will exacerbate ongoing catastrophic major river flooding, and landslides will continue across portions of western Washington and northwest Oregon for several days. Arctic air will plummet southward into the Northern Plains today, bringing cold air in the single digits to the region by Friday. Read More >

Overview

A low pressure system and attached cold front triggered storms in a ripe environment across southern North Dakota during the mid-afternoon, and these storms quickly became strong to severe. Through the remainder of the afternoon and evening, these storms maintained their strong to severe intensity and even became destructive in some areas as they drifted southeast across the border into South Dakota. Extensive crop and property damage resulted from up to 80 mph wind gusts and/or large hail to baseball sized plus across portions of Corson, Dewey, Walworth, Potter, Sully, Hughes and Lyman Counties. Two rounds of severe storms about an hour apart affected those roughly from Blunt to Lower Brule to Iona.

As storms continued south of the NWS Aberdeen forecast area into Gregory county in south central South Dakota, a tornado rapidly developed in the town of Burke.  This EF-1 tornado produced significant damage to portions of the city center. For more information, visit this summary page from NWS Sioux Falls. 

2.3" Hail one mile west of Blunt, SD (Credit Derek Thompson)
2.3" Hail one mile west of Blunt, SD (Credit Derek Thompson)
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