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Rapid City, SD

Weather Forecast Office

June 25, 2019 Twin Tornadoes near Hulett, WY

Weather.gov > Rapid City, SD > June 25, 2019 Twin Tornadoes near Hulett, WY

Overview

Two tornadoes developed northwest of Hulett, Wyoming, around 8:00 pm MDT on June 25, 2019. Numerous trees were downed by the tornadoes. The tornadoes were not visible because they traveled over hilly terrain and were embedded in rain.


Radar animation of the tornadic supercell thunderstorm from 7:47 to 8:48 pm MDT
 

Tornadoes:

Tornado #1
Crook County

Date June 25, 2019
Time (Local) 7:56 to 8:05 pm MDT
EF Rating EF-1
Est. Peak Winds 105 mph
Path Length 5.3 miles
Max Width 60 yards
Injuries/Deaths 0

Summary:  The tornado formed 6 miles east-northeast of New Haven, WY, and dissipated 4 miles north-northwest of Hulett, WY.  It snapped and uprooted numerous pine trees and some cottonwood trees, but caused no structural damage.

Track Map

Track Map EF-Scale

Tornadoes:

Tornado #2
Crook County

Date June 25, 2019
Time (Local) 8:02 to 8:15 pm MDT
EF Rating EF-1
Est. Peak Winds 105 mph
Path Length 5.4 miles
Max Width 80 yards
Injuries/Deaths 0

Summary:  The tornado formed 6 miles east of New Haven, WY, and dissipated 4 miles north-northwest of Hulett, WY. It paralleled the path of the first tornado. It snapped and uprooted numerous pine trees and some cottonwood trees. The only structural damage observed was a grain bin pushed off its foundation.

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

Photos & Video

Timelapse videos of the storm as it approached Belle Fourche, SD courtesy of Anthony Carabajal of Black Hills Aerial Imagery: https://vimeo.com/344475362 and https://vimeo.com/344478710.

Photo from Nadia Simons looking west from Beulah Photo Photo by Jason Schmidt taken from Beulah, WY Photo by Lars Dunavant taken near Belle Fourche, SD
Looking west from Beulah, WY
(Nadia Simons)		 Looking from Sundance, WY
(Meghan and Dave Porter)		 Looking west from Beulah, WY
(Jason Schmidt)		 Photo as storm headed to Belle Fourche, SD
(Lars Dunavant)
Photo by Frank Bliss of the rain shaft Lightning Photo by Frank Bliss Photo
Photo of the rain shaft from northeastern Campbell County
(Frank Bliss)		 Lightning photo from northeastern Campbell County
(Frank Bliss)		 Photo of the storm from Sundance, WY
(Meghan and Dave Porter)

 

Radar & Lightning

The first three sets of radar images below show the evolution of the tornadic supercell thunderstorm as it passed north of Hulett, Wyoming, between 8:01 and 8:23 pm MDT. The yellow (red) box represents a severe thunderstorm (tornado) warning. The fourth radar image below shows the radar-derived rotation track of the tornadic storm's circulation. Finally, the fifth image shows that considerable cloud-to-ground lightning was associated with the Hulett storm.
Radar image at 801 pm MDT
Radar reflectivity (left) and storm-relative velocity (right) at 8:01 pm MDT showing the supercell thunderstorm and developing tornadic circulation just before the first report of a tornado

 

Radar image at 816 pm MDT
Radar reflectivity (left) and storm-relative velocity (right) at 8:16 pm MDT showing the supercell thunderstorm and tornadic circulation near the time when radar-indicated rotation was the strongest

 

Radar image at 823 pm MDT
Radar reflectivity (left) and storm-relative velocity (right) at 8:23 pm MDT showing the supercell thunderstorm and weakening tornadic circulation 

 

Radar rotation from 7:50 to 8:50 pm MDT
Radar-accumluated rotation from 7:50 to 8:50 pm MDT showing the supercell's strongest low-level circulation from northwest to east of Hulett, Wyoming

 

24-hour lightning map
Cloud-to-ground lightning from 6 am June 25 to 6 am June 26, 2019.

 

Storm Reports

Preliminary storm reports for June 25, 2019. 

Preliminary storm reports for June 25, 2019
Preliminary storm reports for June 25, 2019 (green H's represent hail; blue W's represent wind gusts; the red T in northeastern Wyoming represents the tornado report) 
The storm reports listed below are in descending order and may not
necessarily be the final storm reports.

Hail reports listed by size (inches)

 SIZE    LOCATION                 ST  COUNTY           TIME
 ------  -----------------------  --  --------------   -------
  1.75   3 N ALADDIN              WY  CROOK            0850 PM
  1.50   6 NNW NEW HAVEN          WY  CROOK            0750 PM
  1.25   5 N HULETT               WY  CROOK            0809 PM
  1.00   8 S LIGHTNING FLAT       WY  CROOK            0740 PM
  1.00   8 W MORRISEY             WY  WESTON           0455 PM
  1.00   3 ENE ROCHELLE           WY  WESTON           0416 PM

Thunderstorm wind reports listed by speed (mph)

 SPEED   LOCATION                 ST  COUNTY           TIME
 ------  -----------------------  --  --------------   -------
 60.00   7 E HULETT               WY  CROOK            0825 PM
 60.00   6 NNW NEW HAVEN          WY  CROOK            0750 PM
 56.00   1 NNE FAITH              SD  MEADE            1100 PM
 50.00   8 S LIGHTNING FLAT       WY  CROOK            0740 PM

Environment

The environment was moderately unstable (left image) but exhibited strong vertical wind shear (right image) according to the 6 pm MDT June 25, 2019 (0000 UTC 25 June 2019) balloon release at the NWS in  East Rapid City, SD.

Rapid City sounding for 6 pm MDT June 25, 2019 (0000 UTC on June 26) Rapid City hodograph for 6 pm MDT June 25, 2019 (0000 UTC on June 26)
Sounding based off the 6 pm balloon release at NWS Rapid City Hodograph based off the 6 pm balloon release at NWS Rapid City

 

The surface maps at 3 and 6 pm MDT indicated that moist air was flowing from the east-southeast into northeastern Wyoming.

Surface map valid 3 pm MDT 25 June 2019 Surface map valid 6 pm MDT 25 June 2019
Surface map valid 3 pm MDT 25 June 2019 Surface map valid 6 pm MDT 25 June 2019

 

The mesoscale analysis from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) showed modest buoyancy (left image) over northeastern Wyoming (strongest over western South Dakota). The vertical wind shear from the surface to about 18,000 feet above ground (middle image) was very strong across all of the area. The significant tornado parameter (STP, right image), which combines several tornado-relevant variables, showed that the potential for EF-2 or greater tornadoes was small over northeastern Wyoming.

SPC MLCAPE mesoanalysis at 7 pm June 25, 2019 SPC 0-6km shear mesoanalysis at 7 pm June 25, 2019 SPC effective-layer STP mesoanalysis at 7 pm June 25, 2019
Mixed-layer CAPE (a measure of buoyancy in the atmosphere) valid at 7 pm MDT (about 1 hour prior to the tornado) 0-6 km wind difference (a measure of storm rotation potential) valid at 7 pm MDT (about 1 hour prior to the tornado) Signficant tornado parameter (a measure of the potential for EF-2 or stronger tornadoes) valid at 7 pm MDT (about 1 hour prior to the tornado)

 

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