6.4.99 Oglala, SD

My target area for this day was Murdo, SD. The Weather Channel showed a storm developing near Chadron, Nebraska, and its radar signature was impressive. I left Murdo and arrived at the storm about an hour after it produced a tornado near Oglala, SD. The tornado(es) caused 1 fatality and many injuries. It was later rated as an F2 based on damage survey. Click on images to view a larger version

	This is the flanking line. I was about 15 miles east of Pine Ridge looking southwest.
	Panning to the west northwest, you can see more of the inflow bands. There was much precipitation around the core at this point obscuring tornadic cloud features. The main core was now to my north.
	With limited road options and the core obscured, I chose to stay put and photograph the sunlit gustfront as it passed overhead. This view is looking west.
	This view is looking north along the underside of the flanking line. Winds hit about 40 mph out of the west as the gustfront passed. You can see a beavertail in the lower right far portion of the image. The storm produced a tornado about 20 miles north of my position near the town of Kyle around this time.
	As I worked my way back to Rapid City, I had to detour around Oglala due to damage. During my detour, I encountered some of the most impressive lightning I have ever seen. The red streak in the image is an ambulance heading towards Oglala.
	I did an aerial survey a few days after the event. This home was completely demolished. The sturdiness of the construction was suspect and therefore rated as F2 damage.
	An example of a poorly attached roof. There was very little damage to the rest of the house.
	Three areas of damage. View is looking east and the damage path starts at the lower right and moves to the upper left portion of the image. At least one mobile home was completely destroyed.