This Day in Weather History: June 21st

Weather History - June 21st

June 21st, 1902:

Light to heavy frost occurred over most of the state, with low temperatures ranging from the mid-20s to the lower 30s. Some record low temperatures include 27 degrees in Ipswich and Leola, 29 degrees in Kennebec, 30 degrees in Mellette, 31 degrees in Aberdeen, Clark, and Watertown, 32 degrees in Faulkton and Gann Valley, 36 degrees in Sisseton, and 40 degrees in Milbank.

June 21st, 1983:

An F3 tornado touched down in a resort area two miles west of Pollock. Eleven people fled from the southwestern most cabin and crawled under a nearby cabin. The southwest cabin was destroyed, and the cabin the group crawled under was moved five feet from its concrete block foundation. Four people were treated for injuries. A van, boat, and trailer were demolished, and a small car was heavily damaged. The tornado turned east and reformed four miles east of Pollock, where it touched down briefly and dissipated. Another F3 tornado touched down in open prairie three miles northeast of Glad Valley and moved northeast, creating a path of destruction as it progressed. On one farm, nine buildings were wiped out and scattered up to two miles away. Trees and poles were uprooted and scattered a half mile away. This tornado was estimated to be on the ground for six miles with a path width of 300 yards. A third tornado, rated F2, touched down seven miles south of Pollock. This tornado damaged several cabin roofs and a restaurant and downed several trees. Boats were tossed into a lake, and picnic tables were hurdles against cars.

June 21st, 2013:

A long, severe thunderstorm developed over the southern Black Hills and moved eastward across the South Dakota plains in the morning. The storm produced large hail to softball size from eastern Custer to northern Jackson Counties. The softball-sized object fell 12 miles east-southeast of Fairburn in Custer County, damaging property. This storm intensified along a strong warm front with volatile air and strong, deep-layer winds into several supercell thunderstorms and a damaging line of thunderstorms/bow echo across parts of central and northeast South Dakota through the afternoon hours. Damaging winds up to 90 mph uprooted large trees and caused considerable structural and crop damage and loss of power to those along the path. The worst wind damage was at Lake Poinsett, Watertown, and Milbank. A woman was killed, and her husband was severely injured on Lake Poinsett when their lake house was destroyed. Numerous trees were downed, and many structures were damaged or destroyed. Many trees had fallen onto homes, cabins, and trailers. The bowling alley in Clear Lake lost its roof, and numerous pole barns were damaged along the storm's path. Thousands of people were also left without power. Four tornado touchdowns occurred, along with hail up to the size of softballs. Isolated flash flooding also occurred. Codington, Hamlin, Grant, and Deuel counties were all declared in a Federal Disaster Declaration. The total damage estimates were around 1,100,000 dollars.