Nightmare Scenario: Destructive Tornado Strikes Sioux Falls At Night

This home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota was destroyed by last
night's tornado. Photo by KELO-TV

This is one of the biggest nightmare scenarios for meteorologists:

A large tornado, hidden by curtains of rain moves through a large city late at night when most people are in bed or otherwise not paying attention to possible warnings.

This scenario became reality in Sioux Falls, South Dakota last night when at least one tornado. accompanied by 100 mph straight winds and flash flooding, swept through South Dakota's largest city at around 11:30 local time last night.

Here's one scenario that gives meteorologists nightmares. Even Todd Heitkamp, lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Sious Falls described last night's situation in those terms.

Despite the fact there is extensive damage - at least 37 buildings either collapsed or have a compromised structural integrity - there are so far no reports of deaths from the tornado or tornadoes in Sioux Falls.  There are some reports of injuries.

An Advance Auto Parts store in Sioux Falls, South Dakota collapsed
during last night's tornado.

The greatest damage from the tornado seems to be along and east of Interstate 29 a little south of downtown Sioux Falls. Early images coming from the area show a collapsed Advance Auto Parts Store.

The Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported at least part of the roof blew the Avera Behavioral Health Hospital's roof. The city's mayor asked people to stay home early this morning rather than risk injury by driving through debris-strewn streets.  

The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls had asked South Dakota residents to be on the lookout for severe weather all day.  Tornado warnings were going up all evening. The one for Sioux Falls was issued at 11:27 p.m. and tornado reports started coming in at 11:38 p.m., the Argus Leader reported.

So it appears warnings worked, despite the late hour. NWS meteorologists in Sioux Falls will investigate the damage today, to see how many tornadoes actually touched down. Early reports suggest 100 mph straight line winds and not a tornado caused most of the damage.

On top of the tornadoes, torrential rains of three to six inches fell on already waterlogged areas of eastern South Dakota from Yankton and Vermillion, all the way up through Sioux Falls and Brookings.

I'm familiar with Sioux Falls because I often fly into their airport to visit relatives in Yankton, to the south of Sioux Falls.  I'm very happy to see reports from Yankton that the storms weren't that bad there, with just some minor flooding and thunderstorm wind gusts of around 40 mph.

Some video:

A destroyed home in Sioux Falls



A drive around Sioux Falls shows lots of damage. Especially to trees. Most Sioux Falls neighborhoods have lots of trees.