Menno hit with damage as storms spawn tornado warnings

Trees are blown over, telephone lines are down and some windows are broken in Menno after a series of thunderstorms moved through the Mitchell area Tuesday night.

The series of storms spawned tornadoes as well, with tornado warnings issued for Jerauld, Aurora, Davison and Hutchinson counties.

As for damage, there was little reported, although Hutchinson County Sheriff James Zeeb said Tuesday evening that “Menno’s got storm damage,” noting the damage to trees and communications wires. A tornado was spotted two miles north of Menno.

Golf ball-sized hail, heavy rain and winds up to 60 mph were reported in Jerauld, Aurora and Hutchinson counties, but Menno had the only reported damage, according to calls to sheriff’s departments in the affected counties. Elsewhere in the region, counties reported rain but little more.

Mitchell received a fifth of an inch of rain.

The storms began moving toward the Mitchell area around 4 p.m. Tuesday. Tornado warnings for Beadle and Jerauld counties were issued at 4:47 p.m., but expired at 5:15 p.m. The clouds that passed over Wessington Springs left large hailstones in the region and brought wind gusts of up to 60 mph.

Aurora County Sheriff David Fink said he was in Mitchell when the storms started, but only saw rain and hail on his way back to Plankinton.

“By the time I got back to Plankinton, the ground was dry,” Fink said. “No one has reported any storm damage.”

According to Jim Montgomery, emergency manager for Davison County, rain and marble-sized hail were reported in the county, but there was no damage. According to various reports, a tornado was spotted six miles south of Mount Vernon.

Quarter-sized hail and high winds were reported in Parkston and Dimock along with about an inch of rain, but the hail didn’t cause any real damage.

Tornado watches for southeast South Dakota remained in effect until 11 p.m. Tuesday.

According to Associated Press reports, tornadoes were spotted by storm chasers and spotters northwest of Mission Hill, north of Menno, northwest of Olivet, near Dimock, south of Mount Vernon, southwest of Wessington, north of Miller and northeast of Gettysburg.

Funnel clouds were reported earlier in the day in Hand County, north of Little Eagle, and north of McLaughlin.

Numerous reports of large hail were filed throughout the eastern part of the state. One report of winds gusting to 80 mph was received from Menno, while other storm reports had wind gusting from 40-60 mph.

The Yankton area reported up to 2 inches of rain Tuesday night. More than 1 inch fell in Wessington Springs.

Earlier Tuesday, 3.5 inches of rain was reported in the Aberdeen area of northeast South Dakota, prompting city officials to issue a no-travel advisory due to water in the streets.

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