Aberdeen sets rainfall record Sunday; 4.35 inches reported near Columbia

Mother Nature provided the fireworks Sunday night as storms rolled through much of eastern South Dakota and North Dakota.

Aberdeen received a July 3 record of 2.11 inches of rain, with another 0.22 inch early Monday, according to Ryan Vipond, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Aberdeen. The old daily rainfall record was 1.84 inches set in 2010.

Some places got more rain than Aberdeen, Vipond said, adding that there was a report of 4.35 inches 6 miles southwest of Columbia.

The storms altered some holiday weekend plans across the region and made it safer for those who planned to discharge fireworks on Monday.

In some places, including the Leola area, there was hail Sunday night, though most of it appeared to be small, at least based on social media reports and images.

Much of the action was in the skies as thunder rumbled and lighting flashed late into the night, offering an impressive display.

There were some reports of tree damage around the Aberdeen region, according to Vipond and Brown County Emergency Manager Scott Meints. But neither man had heard of severe damage, at least as of Monday morning around 9 a.m.

Rainfall reports varied considerably, Vipond said, but but most were in the 1.5-to-3.25-inch range, some of that beyond the Aberdeen area.

Other reports as of Monday morning to the NWS office included:

• Groton: 1.54 inches.
• 5 miles south-southwest of Richmond Lake: 1.82 inches.
• 2 miles west of Richmond Lake: 2.5 inches.
• 1 mile north-northeast of Aberdeen: 1.8 inches.
• 2 miles northeast of Mina: 1.88 inches.
• 2.4 miles south-southeast of Claremont: 1.52 inches.

But there were a few towns in Brown County that got less than an inch, according to information reported to the NWS, including Hecla and Frederick.

There were also some high wind gusts, including 77 mph near Mellette, 70 mph at Craven Corner in Edmunds County and 53 mph about 3 miles south of Conde, Vipond said. At the NWS office near Aberdeen Regional Airport, the highest gust was 68 mph at 12:10 a.m. Monday, he said.

Vipond said Monday morning that he had heard of no structural damage, but that given the gusts, other reports could filter in. Meints said most of what he heard about was lots of rain.