EF2 Tornado — Campbell, South Dakota

2024-08-28 · near Mound City, Campbell, South Dakota

Event narrative

At 7:50 pm CDT, the tornado touched down on the west side of

South Dakota Highway 1804, just north of 118th St. Within a few minutes of being

on the ground, it tracked east and crossed South Dakota Highway 1804, tossing

hay bales in its path. Between 8:00-8:05 pm CDT, the tornado

continued in a more southeast direction, crossing 118th St and

encountering an electric transmission line, resulting in the

collapse of three electrical transmission towers. The tornado

then continued east-southeast toward 119th St, where it

encountered a farmstead. At this location, multiple trees were

broken, snapped, and uprooted. One small shed was lifted, another

had its walls collapse, and a machine shed had its doors blown

out. The main house lost windows, and a tractor lost its doors

facing east and west, although the front and back windshields

remained intact. Additionally, a trailer was rolled onto the

road, and other farm implements were destroyed or moved. Between

8:05-8:10 pm CDT, the tornado would cross to the south of 119th

St, flipping a haybine to the west and through a fence. The main

tornadic circulation broadened and tracked east, becoming nearly

stationary at times as it traversed over cropland between 299th

and 301st Ave. Many smaller tornadic vortices were

noted on video accounts during this period. Toward the end of the tornado

cycle, between roughly 8:15-8:20 pm CDT, it intensified once

again, becoming narrower and tracking from southwest to

northeast, crossing 119th St between 301st and 302nd Ave. The

track was clearly seen through a corn crop before lifting. Around

this same time, a distinct smaller tornado/vortex damaged a

farmstead. At this location, a tree was uprooted, a silo was

dented, and two shop buildings lost roof panels and doors.

Additionally, a travel trailer was rolled 100 feet across 119th

St, with debris tossed from north-northeast to south-southwest

into a cornfield. Two other smaller tornadic circulations were

also noted in the corn crop just west of the intersection of

302nd Ave and 119th St.

Wider weather episode

An isolated, strong storm moving from between just north of Mobridge to just southwest of Mound City generated a strong tornado that was well documented by storm chasers and spotters. Additional, weaker satellite tornadoes and embedded vortices within the main tornado were observed during the 30 minute duration this tornado was on the ground. This resulted in sporadic, intense areas of multi-directional tornado damage, as well as areas of very broad uniform damage. After the main tornado had dissipated, a distinct additional tornado developed southeast of Mound City lasting a few minutes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (45.6837, -100.2431)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1207072. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.