Officials confirm at least one tornado ripped through southeastern Sioux Falls Tuesday night.
Todd Heitkamp is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls.
He says the EF-2 tornado touched down on 41st, between Kiwanis and Western—with windspeeds of up to 125 miles per hour.
Heitkamp says it was a fast-moving system.
“This is not the tornado grandma grew up with,” Heitkamp says. “These are not the Oklahoma type of tornadoes, these are not the Kansas type of tornadoes. They don’t form on the backside of storsm where most of these tornadoes do occur. These occurred on the front side of the storm making it very difficult—not only to detect, but also to see. Because they’re so quickly developing and they dissipate just that quick.”
Heitkamp says three fourths of the city saw 90 to 100 mile per hour wind speeds from the storm.
Severe weather for the region is not over.
The National Weather Service expects severe storms Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. Officials urge people to stay aware of forecasts and have multiple ways to receive weather warnings.
Aaron Dye is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Aberdeen. He says the next wave of severe weather will stretch from Sioux Falls down to southeastern South Dakota.
“We’re kindof sitting in this active pattern where we’ve got low pressure systems coming through pretty much daily. That’s looking like it will settle out over the weekend. We’re looking at another system possibly coming through later this evening. The potential for that sort of severe, again, is going to be in southeastern South Dakota and northeastern Nebraska area. That’ll be another thing for people to watch out for in that area.”
More than five inches of rain fell Tuesday night in some areas around Sioux Falls and southeastern South Dakota.
There was at least one confirmed tornado and officials are accessing damage to confirm whether others touched down.
Dozens of buildings are damaged in Sioux Falls, including the Avera Sports Dome. Trees are uprooted in many parts of the city. There are no known fatalities from Tuesday night’s storm.
