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EF3 tornado in Harding County, South Dakota

Tornado June 28, 2018 · Harding County, South Dakota

EF3

Rating

3.6 mi

Path length

900 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 900 yards (0.51 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado started south of Capitol, Montana and crossed the state line into South Dakota approximately ten miles south-southwest of Camp Crook. The tornado produced considerable tree and structural damage west of South Camp Crook Road. It also lifted and destroyed some farm machinery, including a five-ton tractor that was found a few miles northwest in Montana. East of Camp Crook Road, a large farm outbuilding was destroyed and its foundation was extracted from the ground and broken apart. The tornado was rated an EF-3 with peak wind speeds estimated around 136 mph.

The wider storm

A tornadic thunderstorm tracked east-northeast from Montana across Harding County during the evening. The storm produced several tornadoes, including four in Harding County. The largest of the tornadoes was rated EF-3 and caused significant damage at a couple of ranches.

Began near Camp Crook (45.4092, -104.0405).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

3 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF2 Harding County EF2 Harding County EFU Harding County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 765197. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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