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Heavy Great Lakes Snow through Friday; Watching Potential for Major Winter Storm Late Week into this Weekend

Heavy lake effect snow will continue in the Great Lakes into Wednesday before another storm brings a widespread general snow followed by another round of heavy lake effect snow. A wide-ranging winter storm will produce great swaths of heavy snow, sleet, and treacherous freezing rain from the southern Rockies/Plains and Mid-South starting Friday and shifting toward the East Coast through Sunday. Read More >

Overview

Many severe thunderstorms moved across South Dakota over multiple days in early June 2020, including the 4th, 6th and 7th. The event on the 6th was classified as a derecho (a widespread, long-lived wind storm featuring rapidly moving thunderstorms that last for over 250 miles), that moved northeast out of Colorado and Wyoming and through western and central South Dakota during the evening of June 6th. Winds in western and central South Dakota gusted to 60-80 mph as the derecho moved through.

The next wave of storms developed in response to a strong low pressure system over central South Dakota during the late afternoon of June 7th, along and east of a stalled surface boundary from Murdo through Eureka. This led to the severe thunderstorms moving over the same areas multiple times into the early morning hours of June 8th and produced 1-1.75" hail, wind gusts of 60-80+ mph, and three tornadoes. Numerous machine sheds, pole barns, grain bins silos, etc. were damaged or destroyed during these intense storms. 

 Tree uprooted 2 miles west of Westport, SD (Kristi Burns)
Structural damage from high winds in the Loyalton area on June 7th
View of the June 6, 2020 storm reports over western South Dakota View of the June 7, 2020 storm reports over South Dakota
View of the June 6, 2020 storm reports over western South Dakota (Source) View of the June 7, 2020 storm reports over South Dakota (Source)
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