Record for number of South Dakota thunderstorm warnings in a year already eclipsed

Scott Waltman, Alexandra Hardle and Dominik Dausch, Aberdeen News
·3 min read

Those who feel like there have been an excessive number of thunderstorms already in 2022 aren't alone.

Or wrong.

Early Thursday, the National Weather Service office in Aberdeen posted on social media that there had already been 561 severe thunderstorm warnings issued across the state this year.

And that was before rain soaked parts of eastern South Dakota later in the day, causing flooding in some areas.

State Climatologist Laura Edwards noted the number of warnings on Twitter. She said it's already the highest number of South Dakota storm warnings on record in a given year. And it's still early July. The previous record was 430 in 2007, she said. Last year's total was less than a third of this year's.

According to the NWS office in Sioux Falls, 43 severe thunderstorm warnings were issued statewide on Tuesday alone as a derecho rumbled across the state.

Flood warnings expired Thursday evening

Flood warnings issued Thursday by the National Weather Service have expired, but parts of northern and central South Dakota are still dealing with excess rain.

A slow-moving storm system dumped inches of rain in some counties that also saw heavy rains earlier in the week. But there were no reports of serious damage as of Friday morning, according to Travis Tarver, a meteorologist with the NWS office in Aberdeen.

Thursday's warnings covered parts of Edmunds, McPherson, Walworth, Faulk, Spink, Campbell, Hand and Hyde counties.

More: NWS confirms another South Dakota derecho as storms include 4-inch hail near Timber Lake

Tarver said there was flooding just south of Faulkton Thursday. County Road 11 was reported to be closed for about 4.5 miles. And there were reports of streets and roads underwater in Roscoe in Edmunds County.

It was a day of heavy rain for much of the region. Rainfall totals reported to the NWS follow.

  • Loyalton in Edmunds County: 5.5 inches.

  • 4.5 miles southeast of Ashton in Spink COunty: 4.5 inches.

  • Revillo in Grant County: 3.9 inches.

  • Codington County: 3.2 inches.

  • Watertown: 1.23 inches.

Tracy Hutson, Edmunds County Emergency Management Director, said the flooding in the area is typical. Some roads in the Roscoe area are underwater, as well as a road north of Ipswich. While the flow of traffic could be disrupted by the flooded roads, another issue is that emergency response times could slowed.

Hutson asked that people be cautious and not drive around signs that indicate closed roads.

Ipswich has had 14.81 inches of precipitation so far this year compared to a historical norm of 10.77 inches, according to NWS data. Faulkton has had 14.17 inches compared to an average of 12.02.

More: Aberdeen sets rainfall record Sunday; 4.35 inches reported near Columbia

Only 0.3 inch of rain fell in Aberdeen Thursday. But the city is still well above normal so far this year, having received 16.34 inches of precipitation compared to an average of 11.83.

With Thursday's rain, Watertown has now had 12.79 inches of precipitation this year compared to an average of 11.78, according to the NWS.

Most of the James River, which snakes north to south through the state from near Hecla in Brown County past Huron and Mitchell and to the Yankton area, remained in flood stage Friday morning, though that's not uncommon.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Flood warning issued for some South Dakota counties as rain continues