Significant Winter Storm to Bring Heavy Snow and Ice Impacts; Dangerously Cold Temperatures Expands Across the East; Severe Storm Threat in the Gulf States Sunday

A significant winter storm is underway, bringing widespread heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain from the Southern Rockies to New England through Monday. Extremely cold air will follow, prolonging dangerous travel and infrastructure impacts into next week. Severe thunderstorms may produce damaging gusts and tornadoes across the eastern Gulf Coast states Sunday morning and afternoon. Read More >

Overview

Two tornadoes touched down in Ziebach County, South Dakota Tuesday evening, May 12. Scott Olson of Brookings, South Dakota witnessed the first tornado west of Red Elm (see image to the right). National Weather Service meteorologists confirmed a second tornado occurred after conducting a damage survey the following day.

Based on observed damage, the second tornado touched down about five miles west of Dupree and traveled eight miles, with damage ending about three miles northeast of Dupree. Damage included several barns and grain bins, semi-trailers, small mobile homes, and a toppled communications tower. Based on the type of damage, winds were estimated between 100 and 110 mph, giving the second tornado a rating of EF1 on a scale of EF0 to EF5 of the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

First tornado west of Red Elm around 528 pm MDT. No damage was reported with this tornado.
Photo by Scott Olson

Tornadoes
Photos
Radar

Tornadoes:

Tornado - 7.5 miles west of Red Elm, SD
Ziebach County

Date	05/12/2009
Time (Local)	5:28 pm
EF Rating	EF0
Est. Peak Winds	65-85 MPH
Path Length	0.05 miles
Max Width	20 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0

Track Map

Tornado - 2.3 miles northeast of Dupree, SD
Ziebach County

Date	05/12/2009
Time (Local)	5:40 pm
EF Rating	EF1
Est. Peak Winds	100-110 MPH
Path Length	8.23 miles
Max Width	200 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: Map of tornado track.

Track Map

The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

Photos


Damage to a barn roof and walls northeast of Dupree	A microwave tower toppled by the winds	Barn damage west of Dupree	Damaged grain bins west of Dupree

Radar


May 12, 2009 544 PM MDT Base Reflectivity Image	May 12, 2009 545 PM MDT Storm Relative Velocity Image

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Significant Winter Storm to Bring Heavy Snow and Ice Impacts; Dangerously Cold Temperatures Expands Across the East; Severe Storm Threat in the Gulf States Sunday

May 12, 2009 Tornadoes near Dupree, SD