Go Back
  • For Business
  • |
  • Warnings
  • Data Suite
  • Forensics
  • Advertising
  • Superior Accuracy™
Storms to hammer Central, Eastern US with flood, wind threat Chevron right
Dangerous heat and humidity to grip the Southeast Chevron right

Columbus, OH

89°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Columbus

Ohio

89°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Columbus, OH Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

For Business

Warnings

Data Suite

Forensics

Advertising

Superior Accuracy™

Video

Winter Center

AccuWeather Early Hurricane Center Top Stories Trending Today Astronomy Heat Climate Health Recreation In Memoriam Case Studies Blogs & Webinars
Special Weather Statement

News / Severe Weather

Derecho blasts northern Plains with 100-mph winds, leaves 2 dead

As an extreme weather event stampeded across South Dakota Thursday evening, images that emerged on social media called to mind the 1930s Dust Bowl era.

By Adriana Navarro, AccuWeather staff writer

Published May 12, 2022 8:01 PM EDT | Updated May 16, 2022 7:35 AM EDT

Copied

A destructive line of storms rips across Nebraska and South Dakota on May 12, leaving damage scattered all over the region.

The multiday severe weather episode across the Plains quickly escalated on Thursday, with thunderstorms delivering destructive winds and massive hailstones across the region a day after a meteorologist was killed in a crash during a preceding storm.

The extreme weather event has been declared a derecho, a long-lived thunderstorm complex that is sometimes called an "inland hurricane" due to the extensive wind damage that often occurs. According to the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), there were 55 significant hurricane-force wind gusts. "[Thursday was] the day with the second-most preliminary hurricane-force wind gusts since at least 2004," SPC said.

Furious winds roared across the Plains Thursday with wind gusts over 100 mph tearing across states from Kansas to South Dakota to Wisconsin, taking down power lines and trees, kicking up walls of dust and even rolling semi-trucks.

"It was very forceful, very dark, it was very quiet up until the wind hit. Almost instantaneous, tree branches and roof shingles and stuff started coming off structures," Arlington, South Dakota, Fire Chief Trevor Keating told AccuWeather Meteorologist Tony Laubach in an interview.

A fatality was reported near Blomkest, Minnesota, about 85 miles west of Minneapolis, after winds toppled a grain bin onto a car, according to a report from the SPC. The report didn't note the exact speed of the wind; however, gusts over 90 mph were recorded in the area.

The Associated Press reported an additional fatality due to the severe weather in Colton, South Dakota, approximately 15 miles northwest of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after a person was struck by storm debris.

GET THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

  • Have the app? Unlock AccuWeather Alerts™ with Premium+

In Garfield County, Nebraska, near Burwell, the wind knocked about a 15x15 foot horse barn on the west side of town, and a roof was blown off the grandstand at the fairgrounds. About 25 trees were reportedly uprooted, according to the SPC.

Brookings, South Dakota, was especially hard hit by the storms and wind. The Brookings Health System reported a surge of injuries following the storm, and several buildings were demolished due to the destructive wind gusts.

Derecho roars across northern Plains on Thursday
Twitter

Hundreds of storm reports continued to flood in as the evening progressed, noting everything from hailstones with a diameter of 2 inches in locations in Kansas, Wisconsin and Minnesota, to a potential tornado damaging two houses and the side of a school in Castlewood, South Dakota, and wind reports that frequently surpassed 80 mph.

One wind gust in Hutchinson County, located in the southeastern portion of South Dakota, reached 107 mph outside of Tripp around 4:25 p.m., CDT, according to one NWS report.

AccuWeather forecasters had previously warned that wind gusts of 70-90 mph were possible with the strongest storms, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 110 mph.

As the storms continued to develop, thousands of customers in South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin were experiencing power outages Thursday, according to PowerOutage.US. By Friday morning, outages in Minnesota topped 53,000 while 21,000 were in the dark across South Dakota.

Around 8:41 p.m., local time, Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer, who was covering the storms in South Dakota, reported that I-29 was closed south of Watertown, South Dakota, due to numerous semi-trucks that had been blown over.

The wind from the storms also kicked up plumes of dust near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which sits a little to the northeast of Hutchinson County.

"Dust so thick in the air you can taste it, and it's blown into every crack in the house," NWS Sioux Falls Lead Meteorologist Matthew Dux said over Twitter Thursday afternoon.

Local emergency management advised against travel later Thursday evening as emergency crews tried to assess the storm damage, which included downed power lines and tree limbs across the city.

"Extra traffic is making things difficult and causing more problems," the Sioux Falls Fire Rescue said over Twitter, adding a request or people to stay home and not drive around simply to view the damage.

Severe thunderstorms brought extremely strong winds to northern parts of the U.S. on May 12, leading to incredible scenes.

The system was the latest in a multiday severe weather outbreak across the region, including Minnesota where one person died in a crash and at least three others were wounded.

Meteorologist Martha Lilian Llanos Rodríguez, 30, of Mexico City, Mexico, was killed in a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 90 in southwestern Minnesota Wednesday evening, the Minnesota State Police said.

All of the vehicles had been traveling on I-90 eastbound when they encountered downed power lines associated with the storms. The driver of a 2021 Chevrolet Hatchback, Chilean meteorologist Diego Alvaro Campos, 37, had stopped the car to avoid the power lines when the vehicle was struck by a Freightliner semi-truck. Campos sustained non-life-threatening injuries, as did the passenger Aldo Alberto Viscarra-Avilez, 33, according to the incident report.

Bradford Scott Barrett, 42, and Llanos were also passengers in the Chevrolet, with Barrett sustaining life-threatening injuries in the collision.

Barrett and Campos are both ambassadors of the American Meteorological Society Committee on Hispanic and Latinx Advancement (AMS CHALA).

"We were doing some storm chasing," Campos told the Star Tribune. "The storm was really bad, and we were trying to get out of there." He added that this had been Llanos's first time storm chasing.

The third vehicle involved, a 2009 Pontiac G6, collided into the power lines, and its driver, Tyler Scott Gilbery, 23, was taken to Sanford Worthington Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Jaskaran Singh, 26, the driver of the semi, was uninjured.

Continue reading:

Coast Guard makes dramatic rescue after rogue wave wrecks sailboat
Beachfront homes along Outer Banks keep crumbling into the ocean
Meet the man whose name is synonymous with tornadoes

Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts™ are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.

Report a Typo
Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.
Comments
Hide Comments

Weather News

Weather News

Gamer struck by lightning while streaming

Jul. 25, 2025
Weather Forecasts

Wildfire risk to escalate across western US through end of July

Jul. 26, 2025
Weather News

Dozens feared killed after plane crashes in Russia’s Far East

Jul. 24, 2025
Weather News

The day Niagara Falls ran dry: Here's what it looked like

Jul. 21, 2025
Weather News

Inside the grueling recovery effort after Texas’ deadly flood

Jul. 15, 2025
Weather News

The Deadliest Floods in Texas History: A State at Risk

Jul. 16, 2025
video

Before-and-after pictures show devastation caused by Texas floods

Jul. 9, 2025
Severe Weather

Severe thunderstorms to bring a risk for flash flooding

Jul. 21, 2025
Hurricane

Tropical development lurking in the Gulf for late July

Jul. 22, 2025
Weather News

Alabama teen in ICU after lightning strike hits boat, causing burns an...

Jul. 2, 2025
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

AccuWeather Early

Hurricane Center

Top Stories

Trending Today

Astronomy

Heat

Climate

Health

Recreation

In Memoriam

Case Studies

Blogs & Webinars

Top Stories

Severe Weather

Storms to hammer Central and Eastern US with flood, wind threat

4 hours ago

Weather News

Southwest Airlines jet dives as a fighter jet crosses its path near LA

21 hours ago

Weather Forecasts

Cooler days ahead? Major shift coming to the Northeast

6 hours ago

Weather News

Flash flooding hits Ruidoso again, prompts water rescues

1 day ago

Hurricane

Hawaii braces for gusty winds as Pacific tropics heat up

4 hours ago

More Stories

Featured Stories

Travel

AeroMéxico plane nearly lands on top of Delta Air Lines 737 taking off

3 days ago

Weather News

Firefighters rescue four cows from quicksand on riverbank

3 days ago

Weather News

South Korea's president proclaims disaster after 19 die in flooding

2 days ago

Weather News

Hershey says it is hiking chocolate prices

3 days ago

Weather News

‘Shark Whisperer’ swims its way into our shark obsession

4 days ago

AccuWeather Severe Weather Derecho blasts northern Plains with 100-mph winds, leaves 2 dead
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2025 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | About Your Privacy Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

...

...

...