Tornado in Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Tornado May 27, 2026 · Minnehaha County, South Dakota

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Not rated

3.5 mi

Whole path

40 yd

Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Rock County, Minnesota → Minnehaha County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 40 yards (0.02 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

Not rated. NOAA lists no rating for this tornado. Ratings come from surveying damage, and the National Weather Service now records “EFU” (unknown) when a tornado hit nothing a survey team could rate.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This landspout formed about 2 miles northwest of Hills in Rock County and entered Minnehaha County about 4 miles west-northwest of Hills. The tornado continued to the west-southwest for a little less than a mile before dissipating just northeast of the intersection of 266th Street and 487th Avenue. There were no damage indicators present to derive a rating in either Rock County or Minnehaha County, giving the tornado a rating of EFU in both counties. The average path width was estimated at 40 yards based on video and photo evidence.

The wider storm

Very warm temperatures led to a well-mixed lower atmosphere. Weak winds and a weakly convergence boundary in the presence of marginal moisture led to the development of high-based convection, which featured a widely viewed landspout that drifted west-southwest from Minnesota into South Dakota.

Began near Benclare (43.5370, -96.4530).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1344110. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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