EF2 Tornado — Deuel, South Dakota

2025-06-28 · near Clear Lake Muni Arpt, Deuel, South Dakota

Event narrative

At approximately 6:53 p.m. on June 28, 2025, a tornado touched down in a field about five miles northwest of Clear Lake, just south of an unoccupied farmstead. While no full-time residents lived on the property, the house was still used intermittently as a family cabin. As the tornado approached, it first tore through an expansive shelterbelt, snapping and uprooting numerous trees as it closed in on the property. The tornado then flipped a shipping container used for storage including lawnmowers, grills, and outdoor furniture. A nearby shed was completely destroyed, and an empty concrete stave silo was toppled. When the tornado reached the house, the winds were powerful enough to shift the structure entirely off its century-old foundation. Significant tree damage continued on the north side of the property as the tornado moved through the remaining shelterbelt. From there, the tornado tracked northeast, snapping more trees as it crossed 178th street. It continued north northeast crossing both 177th and 176th streets near Lake Coteau. Eyewitnesses near Lake Coteau reported seeing the tornado as well as damage that included twisted road signs. The tornado lifted around 7:08 p.m., ending a 15-minute path that stretched approximately 3.4 miles.

Wider weather episode

A volatile atmospheric setup on the afternoon and evening of June 28th led to the development of several powerful supercell thunderstorms across far eastern South Dakota. These storms produced multiple tornadoes, including two that caused significant damage in Deuel County. The strongest tornado was rated as a high-end EF3. Storms also produced large hail and instances of flash flooding from heavy rainfall.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (44.7956, -96.7694)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1275101. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.