Bonesteel, SD Hail Storm – August 2026

A severe hail storm tracked through Bonesteel, SD on August 7, 2026, producing 4.5-inch stones and prolonged radar-detected hail signatures from before dawn into the late evening. The event generated repeated NWS alerts and multiple spotter-verified impacts in and near the town.

What Happened

The storm sequence began in the pre-dawn hours and produced intermittent radar-detected hail signatures through mid-morning. Dual-polarization radar flagged repeated hail echoes between 2:22 AM CDT and late afternoon. Activity intensified in the late afternoon and early evening, with a concentrated run of radar-detected alerts from roughly 4:00 PM to 7:45 PM CDT.

Spotters reported large, surface impacts as the evening entry moved across the area. At 5:14 PM CDT observers described golf-ball to softball-sized hail in locations near the town. Earlier in the day, a spotter report near 5:05 AM CDT cited vehicle denting attributed to hail. Several time-estimated spotter submissions in the mid- to late-afternoon recorded stones in the 1.5- to 1.75-inch range as the system strengthened on radar.

The official NWS warning polygon issued repeatedly for the storm covered Bonesteel and surrounding rural roads. Throughout the event, radar-derived hail detections and repeated NWS warnings tracked a narrow, shifting hail track across the metro area, with the largest surface impacts occurring in a late-afternoon corridor west and northwest of town.

Damage Assessment

Field reports and radar suggest concentrated surface impact along a late-afternoon to early-evening corridor northwest of Bonesteel. Two spotter-verified observations at 5:14 PM CDT described golf-ball to softball-sized stones with visible surface impacts. A separate early-morning spotter noted vehicle denting at 5:05 AM CDT on a county roadway east of town. Several spotter submissions and time-estimated radar hits in the 4:00–5:00 PM CDT window recorded stones large enough to cause panel dents and cracked trim on exposed vehicles and equipment.

Damage locations were clustered along rural access routes and exposed farmsteads that received the strongest radar signatures. Photographic evidence submitted via email at 10:56 AM CDT documented inch-and-a-half class impacts on siding in an area later crossed by stronger radar signatures. Multiple mPING and observer reports between 1:40 PM and 4:15 PM CDT placed hail of roughly golf-ball size across adjacent sections, suggesting a widening of the hail-producing core before the late-afternoon peak.

Observed impacts in specific reports include vehicle denting, broken garden structures, and concentrated rocketing of loose materials near exposed equipment yards. Reported times and locations align with the dual-polarization radar hail track through the Bonesteel metro and nearby rural townships.

Bonesteel, SD Hail Storm – August 2026

NWS WARNING AREAS · 51

What Happened

Damage Assessment

What Contractors Should Know

Storm Details

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