From Rockies East, Severe Weather Casts A Wide Net
South Dakota was the center of weather extremes Sunday, with a tornado hitting a small town on the eastern side of the state and more than a foot of snow blanketing the Black Hills to the west.
It was among several Great Plains and Midwest states in the path of expected severe weather. At the same time, a tropical storm came ashore in the Carolinas and wintry weather also affected parts of Colorado.
Tropical Storm Ana made landfall near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Sunday morning and was downgraded to a tropical depression by Sunday afternoon. The storm’s maximum sustained winds were at 35 mph.
In South Dakota, National Weather Service meteorologist Philip Schumacher said law enforcement reported a tornado about 10:45 a.m. Sunday in Delmont — about 90 miles from Sioux Falls. Delmont Fire Chief Elmer Goehring told The Associated Press that there “have been some injuries,” and Avera Health spokeswoman Lindsey Meyers said three people were in good condition at a local hospital. No deaths were reported.
“One side of town was taken away,” Delmont resident Anita Mathews told the AP. She said a large Lutheran church had been heavily damaged as well as a new fire hall, and that the town had no electricity.
In North Texas, sparsely populated ranching and farming communities were left to clean up from Saturday’s tornadoes that left one person dead and another in critical condition, authorities said. Cisco Fire Department spokesman Philip Truett said the two people were near each other.
The National Weather Service said Sunday that the Cisco tornado was rated an EF-3, with winds ranging from 136 to 165 mph. At least six buildings were damaged south of Cisco, which is about 100 miles west of Fort Worth, as well as six others near Lake Leon, Truett said.
A strong line of storms moved through the Dallas-Fort Worth area Sunday morning, forcing significant delays and a total of 100 flight cancellations at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field Airport.
Forecasters issued tornado watches through Sunday evening for parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota.
Farther north, a late-season snow fell in parts of the Rockies, western Nebraska and western South Dakota.
National Weather Service meteorologist Kyle Carstens said between 10 to 18 inches of snow was on the ground Sunday morning in the Black Hills, and totals could reach 20-24 inches by the time the system moves out. Rapid City, South Dakota, had 8-11 inches, accompanied by 20-30 mph winds.
Nearly 18 inches of snow fell in southern Colorado, a state that also saw hail, flooding and tornado warnings over the weekend.
