8.26.00 Rapid City, SD

A wildfire started in the Black Hills on Thursday, August 24th. On Saturday, August 26th, this fire produced an impressive thunderstorm that rained ash and lightning on Rapid City. I watched the thunderstorm develop from Ellsworth AFB as I was attending an airshow there. The storm grew and moved straight for Rapid City. The outflow visible on the southern flank was filled with smoke making it appear as if the fire was moving with the thunderstorm. The anvil moved overhead turning the sun into a reddish-orange disk. The Blue Angels had to transition to their low altitude show as the smoke filled anvil prevented them from performing high altitude maneuvers. Shortly after the show, the base was hit with 40 knot gusts from the outflow.

I drove home to west Rapid City and the scene was surreal. The storm was picking up smoke and carrying it right over Rapid City. The smoke-filled debris cloud on the underside of the anvil was slowly sinking to the ground. Eventhough the sun was 2 hours from setting, Rapid City was cast in a dark red-orange haze.

I drove up to an elevated vantage point in south Rapid City and began to photograph the lightning. Given the dryness of the low levels, this was exactly what we didn't need - dry lightning. On the scanner, I could hear fire departments responding to lightning started fires in the north Rapid City area. As night fell, the lightning continued, but thankfully, we were treated to a little bit of rain before things settled down.

		2 pm Cumulus clouds begin to form as the smoke drifts northeast.
		315 pm The storm is really starting to develop.
		430 pm Notice the overshooting dome from the intense updraft.
		530 pm The storm was very strong now producing a fair amount of dry lightning.
		745 pm The arrow indicates the location of the fire and radar returns from the smoke. The main portion of the thunderstorm is to the northeast indicated by the stronger returns.
		This is what it looked like in Rapid City. The smoke made a surreal picture even though the sun was 2 hours from sunset. Click on the image to view a larger version.
		Here are some images of the lightning. The first image was taken looking north from The Ranch amusement park. The second and third were taken from my backyard deck looking south. Click on the image to view a larger version.