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Rapid City, SD

Weather Forecast Office

May 27, 2014 Silver City Tornado

Weather.gov > Rapid City, SD > May 27, 2014 Silver City Tornado

Overview

A tornado touched down in the central Black Hills near Silver City and Pactola Reservoir on Tuesday, May 27, 2014. It uprooted and snapped many large ponderosa pine trees and caused minor roof damage to a house.
 

Tornado:

Tornado - Silver City, SD
Pennington County

Date May 27, 2014
Time (Local) 1:17 to 1:28 pm
EF Rating EF-1
Est. Peak Winds 110 mph
Path Length Estimated 2.5 mi
Max Width 300 yards
Injuries/Deaths 0

Summary:

The tornado developed quickly in a heavily wooded area north of Silver City and eventually crossed the Deerfield Trail within one mile of Silver City.

Track Map

Track Map EF-Scale

 

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
ef-scale

Damage Photos

Trees down a few miles north of Silver City Trees down a few miles north of Silver City
Trees down a few miles north of Silver City
(photo by NWS Rapid City)		 Trees down a few miles north of Silver City
(photo by NWS Rapid City)

Radar


Radar animation from about 1 to 2 pm MDT

Radar velocity image at 1:11 pm MDT Radar velocity image at 1:15 pm MDT Radar velocity image at 1:20 pm MDT
Radar velocity image at 1:11 pm MDT Radar velocity image at 1:15 pm MDT Radar velocity image at 1:20 pm MDT
Radar velocity image at 1:28 pm MDT Radar velocity image at 1:28 pm MDT Radar velocity image at 1:32 pm MDT Radar velocity image at 1:37 pm MDT
Radar velocity image at 1:24 pm MDT Radar velocity image at 1:28 pm MDT Radar velocity image at 1:32 pm MDT Radar velocity image at 1:37 pm MDT

Environment

NWS Rapid City balloon information showed a weakly unstable air mass with weak vertical wind shear. However, the wind shear next to the ground was moderate. Also note that the tornado occurred about 3 1/2 hours before the time of the balloon launch.

Sounding for Rapid City at 6 pm MDT 27 May 2014 Hodograph for Rapid City at 6 pm MDT 27 May 2014
Sounding for Rapid City at 6 pm MDT 27 May 2014 Hodograph for Rapid City at 6 pm MDT 27 May 2014

 

The surface maps valid at noon (below left) and 1 pm (below right) show that moisture was enhanced along the eastern side of the Black Hills.

Surface map valid 12 pm MDT 27 May 2014 Surface map valid 12 pm MDT 27 May 2014
Surface map valid 12 pm MDT 27 May 2014 Surface map valid 1 pm MDT 27 May 2014
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