Scattered Severe Thunderstorms Across the Northern Plains; Fire Weather Concerns in the Western U.S.

Scattered severe thunderstorms are forecast across central and eastern North Dakota, as well as far northwest Minnesota Saturday (Slight Risk level 2 of 5). Damaging wind gusts are the primary threat. Elevated to critical fire weather conditions will persist through the weekend across the Western U.S. Isolated dry thunderstorms could lead to new fire starts over portions of the northern Rockies. Read More >

Overview

During the evening of June 15, 2019, a brief tornado occurred 5.5 miles to the northeast of Estelline, SD. The tornado lasted less than a minute (at around 6:05 PM CDT) and knocked down 7 trees at a farmstead. The tornado was moving in an easterly direction and the tornado tossed tree branches to the south and west from the group of trees that were knocked down. One of the trees hit the corner of a shed and bent part of the metal overhang on the shed.

Based off radar data, damage report, and a Facebook video, the tornado that occurred northeast of Estelline appears to be a very rare "anticyclonic" tornado, which means that it was rotating in a clockwise direction. In the Northern Hemisphere, nearly all of the tornadoes that occur rotate in a counter-clockwise ("cyclonic") direction and estimates indicate that maybe only 1% of tornadoes are anticyclonic like the one that occurred on June 15th.

This storm split off from the parent thunderstorm and moved easterly, while the parent storm continued to the southeast. Meteorologists define these types of storms as "left moving" since they move to the left of the storm that they split from.

Screenshot from Facebook video by Sean and Kathy Lesnar

Tornado
Radar

Tornadoes

Tornado - 5.5 miles northeast of Estelline, SD
Deuel County

Date	6/15/2019
Time (Local)	Approx. 6:05 PM CDT
EF Rating	EF-0
Est. Peak Winds	75 mph
Path Length	0.1 mile
Max Width	10 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: Tornado briefly occurred at this location based off a damage report, Facebook video and radar. 7 trees were knocked over, 5 in one direction and 2 in another direction. Tree branches were also thrown to the south and west of the trees. One tree hit the edge of a building and bent the metal overhang. The tornado only lasted around 45 seconds. Time was estimated based off video and radar.

Track Map

The location of the tornado damage to the northeast of Estelline.

Downloadable KMZ File


Screenshot from Facebook video by Sean and Kathy Lesnar	Screenshot from Facebook video by Becky and Cassie Bates

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

Radar


KFSD (Sioux Falls, SD) Radar Loop of Estelline, SD Tornado on June 15, 2019. The red dot indicates where tornado damage occurred and the position indicated on the Facebook videos.	KFSD (Sioux Falls, SD) Radar image from 2257Z (5:57 PM CDT) on 6/15/19 - The radar is viewing the storm at approximately 5,800 feet above the ground - Not shown, but the "anti-cyclonic" rotation extended through the height of the storm.	KFSD (Sioux Falls, SD) Radar image from 2305Z (6:05 PM CDT) on 6/15/19 at the time/location of the tornado damage. This location matches the location of the Facebook video that was looking northwest from I-29.

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Scattered Severe Thunderstorms Across the Northern Plains; Fire Weather Concerns in the Western U.S.

Rare "Anticyclonic" Tornado in Deuel County on June 15th, 2019