Thunderstorm Wind in Marshall County, South Dakota

Several clusters of severe thunderstorms tracked across portions of central and northeast South Dakota during the late afternoon and evening hours of June 3, generating high winds, large hail, and heavy rainfall.

One cluster tracked along the North Dakota border, where a personal weather station in Frederick recorded a peak wind gust of 84 mph. These high winds destroyed the football field scoreboard and a storage shed in Frederick, knocked down trees and a radio tower, downed power lines in Hecla, and snapped power poles and flipped an irrigation pivot six miles north of Britton. The city of Britton lost electrical power. Three additional weather stations in Marshall County clocked wind gusts in excess of 60 mph.

A second storm cluster moved out of eastern South Dakota into the southern Glacial Lakes region. Quarter-sized hail occurred at several locations. Heavy rainfall topping out at 4.40 inches in Clear Lake resulted in water six inches deep running over roads and caused a creek near the golf course to overflow its banks. Across central South Dakota, storms produced hail ranging from penny to golf ball size south of Interstate 90.