Severe storms impact the western & central parts of South Dakota last weekend

PIERRE & RAPID CITY, S.D.(KCCR & KBHB)- Severe storms slams through central South Dakota this past weekend leaving plenty of damage and power outages behind.  Susan Sander, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Rapid City says damage surveys have been completed in the Philip area in Haakon County.

A number of tornado warnings were issued from Haakon and Jackson Counties into Jones and Lyman Counties into Hand and Buffalo Counties.  Kelly Serr, the W-C-M for the Weather Service’s Aberdeen office is taking a survey team to Jones County Tuesday.

Serr says the supercell thunderstorm, which began hours earlier in eastern Wyoming, exhibited unique structure by the time it reached central South Dakota.

A spotter reported a tornado in the Joe Creek Rec Area of Lyman County and two semis were reported blown over nine miles west and one mile northeast of Okaton, in Jones County Sunday night.  At its peak, West Central Electric Co-op had nearly 2700 meters off-line with 1,182 of those Haakon and 734 in Jackson County.  Power outages were also reported to West Central’s system in Stanley, Lyman, Jones, Mellette and Buffalo Counties.