EF2 Tornado — Hand, South Dakota

2020-08-30 · near Polo, Hand, South Dakota

Event narrative

The tornado initially touched down in the pasture land east of South Dakota Highway 45, roughly 0.8 miles south of 184th Street. It continued to track north for roughly 0.6 miles, damaging a tree grove and fence line. The track then turned west northwest and crossed South Dakota Highway 45, roughly 0.2 miles south of 184th street. A southbound RV pulling an enclosed trailer was struck. The trailer detached from the RV and the RV was lofted and rolled roughly 200 yards into a corn field on the west side of of South Dakota Highway 45. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The tornado track continued west northwest through the corn field for an estimated 0.4 miles. The tornado was at its peak width and intensity at this point. Corn was completely flattened in some areas with a distinct convergent pattern. As the tornado weakened and roped out the path took a southwest turn and persisted for roughly another 0.6 miles before coming to an end in the corn field.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front pushing across central and northeast South Dakota brought several severe storms to the region. Large hail up to 2 inches in diameter occurred along with a fatal tornado in northern Hand county.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (44.7090, -98.9875)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 915720. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.