7.21.00 Southwest, SD

The best dynamics for rotating storms this day was going to be south of Rapid City. A short wave was approaching from the northwest embedded in northwest flow aloft. Thunderstorms had been firing over the Black Hills since late morning, but they were pulse storms. Storms expected to fire farther south should become severe quickly. A tornado watch box was posted for areas south and southwest of Rapid City, SD by 2 pm. I left around 2 pm for Chadron, NE.

I passed into Nebraska at 353 pm and there were three storms of interest. A storm was developing over the Chadron area and two others to the southwest and west. The southwest storm had a wall cloud associated with it and looked the most interesting at this point. It was still fairly far away and maintained its structure as it moved southeast. After watching this storm for 20 minutes, I drove into Chadron, NE to check the radar. The southwest storm was moving rapidly southeast toward Alliance, NE and I would have a hard time catching it. The storm over Chadron was weakening, but the storm originally to the west of me now looked strong.

I drove back north of Chadron, NE on highway 385 and watched the western storm approach. At 510 pm it was over Rumford, SD producing 1.25 inch hail. It was moving straight east towards Olerichs, SD. It seemed to weaken as it moved east. A severe thunderstorm warning was allowed to expire as radar also indicated that it was weakening. I drove north to position myself in the precipitation path. 4 miles south of Olerichs, SD at 538 pm, I encountered pea to dime size hail which turned a 1/2 mile stretch of the highway white. After the storm passed to the east, it continued to weaken.

Another storm appeared to the west and it was quickly apparent that this storm was splitting. I gave a storm report to the NWS, and they pointed out that there were three outflow boundaries converging north of me near New Underwood, SD. I could see an intense updraft going up in that area. I, therefore, left the splitting storm and drove north to catch up with the strong updraft. The updraft maintained its intensity for about 45 minutes before dying around 715 pm.

It was apparent that today's activity was quickly dying down, as now there were no good storms visible. The tornado watch box had also been cancelled for my area. I headed back towards Rapid City, SD. I could see a weak anvil to the northwest as I drove northwest towards Rapid City, SD. However, the angle of the sun prevented me from seeing much storm structure.

I arrived back in Rapid City, SD around 8 pm to see a line of weak storms approaching from the northwest. I stopped on an elevated ridge in southwest Rapid City to watch. As they approached, the sun began to sink behind the precipitation curtains and produced some magnificent backlight affects. It was one of the most impressive sunsets I have witnessed. There were occasional lightning bolts that added to the display. Outflow winds of 25 - 30 mph hit about 830 pm, and soon the precipitation brought an end to my photo opportunity. Overall, there was not much in the way of severe weather, but the incredible sunset made it a successful chase.

	257 pm Just north of Fairburn, SD while driving south on highway 79, I came across this haystack that caught fire as a result of a lightning strike.
	405 pm This thunderstorm formed over Chadron, NE. Notice the precipitation shaft near the updraft base. There were two other storms (one southwest and one west) that appeared quite strong. View is looking south from 15 miles north of Chadron, NE on highway 385.
	502 pm / 519 pm / 527 pm After checking the radar in Chadron, NE, this storm was the best target. It had a severe thunderstorm warning and produced 1.25 inch hail at Rumford, SD at 510 pm. Notice the bottom literally falls out of the storm in the last picture. I drove north towards Olerichs, SD to drive through the collapsing core. At 538 pm and 4 miles south of Olerichs, SD, I encountered pea to dime sized hail. The storm dissipated after crossing highway 385. Views are looking west from highway 385. The lightning image is a video grab of my drive towards Olerichs.



	558 pm This splitting storm developed to the west of Olerichs, SD. However, I drove north on highway 385 to try and intercept a strong updraft development. View is looking west from highway 385 near Olerichs, SD as the storm was splitting.
	643 pm / 714 pm After making a storm report to NWS, they informed me that there were three outflow boundaries converging near New Underwood, SD. I could see a strong updraft developing in that area, so I started to intercept. It maintained intensity for about 45 minutes before dissipating. It looked like things were settling down, and so I decided to head back to Rapid City, SD.

	812 pm I made it back to Rapid City, SD around 8 pm. There was a weak line of storms moving straight for town from the northwest. I got to a good vantage point to watch the line approach. The line had a well developed shelf cloud. View is looking north through west from highway 16 in southwest Rapid City.
	824 pm / 825 pm The sun set behind the precipitation falling from the line of storms and produced one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever witnessed.

	On the drive home, I left my dash mounted video camera running. This was the beginning of a spectacular lightning strike.