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South Dakota Flood Stories

999 first-hand accounts of flood events in South Dakota, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.

Flood$26K damage

Lyman, SD · Apr 1, 2019

The continuation of snowmelt from a much above normal snowfall winter combined with a historic heavy snow/blizzard in mid-April resulted in widespread flooding across central and northeast South Dakota.

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Flash Flood$54K damage

McPherson, SD · May 17, 2018

Extreme rainfall and severe weather occurred along a stationary frontal boundary extending across the region. Thunderstorms training over the same area brought rainfall amounts from 3 to over 13 inches causing extensive flash flooding.

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Flash Flood$25K damage

Lake, SD · Sep 11, 2019

A nearly stationary boundary again focused widespread heavy rainfall during the late evening on September 11 and early morning hours of September 12. Precipitable water was at or exceeding the record values for the date at nearby locations.

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Flood$25K damage

Lake, SD · Sep 11, 2019

A frontal zone remained locked in place under southwest flow aloft as a series of mid-level waves moved across the region over a three day period.

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Flash Flood$10K damage

Douglas, SD · Jul 6, 2020

Lift associated with a jet streak across southern North Dakota interacted with an unstable and weakly capped environment with 30 to 40 knots of deep-layer shear to produce a couple of smaller clusters of thunderstorms with large hail and damaging wind during the evening and…

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Flood$21K damage

Douglas, SD · Sep 12, 2019

A frontal zone remained locked in place under southwest flow aloft as a series of mid-level waves moved across the region over a three day period.

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Flash Flood$20K damage

Lake, SD · Sep 11, 2019

A frontal boundary provided focus for convective development across south central South Dakota during the very late afternoon and early evening as a strong impulse moved in the southwest flow aloft.

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Flood$25K damage

Union, SD · Sep 14, 2019

Continued high dam releases, along with another period of very heavy rainfall in the middle of the month, pushed a small section of the lower Missouri River into flood late month.

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Flash Flood$150K damage

Pennington, SD · May 31, 2019

Several days of heavy rain, along with major to record flooding the previous week, led to more flooding across portions of the western South Dakota plains and foothills of the Black Hills.

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Flash Flood$25K damage

Kingsbury, SD · Aug 5, 2023

An outflow boundary from earlier day convection focused a gradient of instability and storm development with additional destabilization from heating by early afternoon.

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Flash Flood$25K damage

Kingsbury, SD · Aug 5, 2023

An outflow boundary from earlier day convection focused a gradient of instability and storm development with additional destabilization from heating by early afternoon.

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Flood$25K damage

Moody, SD · Sep 11, 2019

Spurred by a period of excessive precipitation from September 10-12 that resulted in 5 to 10 inches of rainfall in the middle to upper reaches of the Big Sioux River Basin and 2 to 5 inches from Sioux Falls downstream, extreme rises occurred mid-month, with many basin locations…

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Flood$25K damage

Moody, SD · Sep 11, 2019

Spurred by a period of excessive precipitation from September 10-12 that resulted in 5 to 10 inches of rainfall in the middle to upper reaches of the Big Sioux River Basin and 2 to 5 inches from Sioux Falls downstream, extreme rises occurred mid-month, with many basin locations…

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Flood$25K damage

Brookings, SD · Sep 11, 2019

Spurred by a period of excessive precipitation from September 10-12 that resulted in 5 to 10 inches of rainfall in the middle to upper reaches of the Big Sioux River Basin and 2 to 5 inches from Sioux Falls downstream, extreme rises occurred mid-month, with many basin locations…

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Flood$25K damage

Minnehaha, SD · Sep 12, 2019

Spurred by a period of excessive precipitation from September 10-12 that resulted in 5 to 10 inches of rainfall in the middle to upper reaches of the Big Sioux River Basin and 2 to 5 inches from Sioux Falls downstream, extreme rises occurred mid-month, with many basin locations…

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Flood$25K damage

Union, SD · Sep 12, 2019

Spurred by a period of excessive precipitation from September 10-12 that resulted in 5 to 10 inches of rainfall in the middle to upper reaches of the Big Sioux River Basin and 2 to 5 inches from Sioux Falls downstream, extreme rises occurred mid-month, with many basin locations…

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Flood$17K damage

Buffalo, SD · Apr 1, 2019

The continuation of snowmelt from a much above normal snowfall winter combined with a historic heavy snow/blizzard in mid-April resulted in widespread flooding across central and northeast South Dakota.

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Flash Flood$34K damage

Campbell, SD · May 17, 2018

Extreme rainfall and severe weather occurred along a stationary frontal boundary extending across the region. Thunderstorms training over the same area brought rainfall amounts from 3 to over 13 inches causing extensive flash flooding.

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Flash Flood$50K damage

Charles Mix, SD · Jun 8, 2020

Thunderstorms fired along a slowly moving cold front during the early evening. Initially discrete, strong updrafts with 2000-2500 J/kg MLCAPE and deep-layer shear around 50 knots resulted in supercells, which later congealed into a slowly progressing line.

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Flood$100K damage

Custer, SD · May 28, 2019

Several days of heavy rain, along with major to record flooding the previous week, led to more flooding across portions of the western South Dakota plains and foothills of the Black Hills.

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Flash Flood

Lawrence, SD · Aug 19, 2024

A severe storm tracked out of northeast Wyoming and across the northern Black Hills area to the west central South Dakota plains during the evening hours. The storm produced large hail and heavy rain across the area.

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Flash Flood$10K damage

Charles Mix, SD · Aug 6, 2019

A very unstable atmosphere was in place across south central and southeast South Dakota with around 2000 J/kg MLCAPE. As a strong upper-level wave dropped from Montana into North Dakota, storms initiated after 1400CST along a pre-frontal surface trough across north central…

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Flash Flood$10K damage

Brookings, SD · Sep 10, 2019

A frontal boundary provided focus for convective development across south central South Dakota during the very late afternoon and early evening as a strong impulse moved in the southwest flow aloft.

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Flash Flood$10K damage

Brookings, SD · Sep 10, 2019

A frontal boundary provided focus for convective development across south central South Dakota during the very late afternoon and early evening as a strong impulse moved in the southwest flow aloft.

Read the full account →
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