While working at Trussbilt in Huron, SD on August 24, 2006 there was a late season significant tornado outbreak near Huron. This storm produced a half dozen tornadoes. My friend and colleague Andrew Sonnek was a big fan of storm chasing so naturally we dropped everything to pursue these tornados. We got a bit close.
I was driving my 4Runner down a gravel road while Andrew took photos. While keeping an eye on the sky Andrew noticed that the funnel must have just crossed the road ahead of us. The road was pelted with gobs of goo.
We turned and trailed the storm only to be stopped by downed power lines. That is when we realized that this was a farm. There was nothing much left. People were emerging from a shelter but there was no house. A tractor was toppled hundreds of feet away.
This tornado entered Beadle County at approximately 6:37 pm doing F2 damage to a farmstead. The aerial survey confirmed this to be a long track tornado of approximately 24.5 miles lifting 3.5 miles southwest of Huron at 7:18 pm. This tornado was on the ground for a total of 50 minutes.
The tornado reached its peak intensity 2 miles south of Wolsey where F3 damage occurred. Winds in this area were estimated to be around 200 mph with the tornado 400 to 500 yards wide. This tornado finally lifted southwest of Huron but then the supercell thunderstorm began strengthening again as it continued east.
