South Dakota

130 mph straight line winds devastate South Dakota wind farm – Oklahoma Energy Today

Published

1 month ago

June 30, 2026

130 mph straight line winds devastate South Dakota wind farm – Oklahoma Energy Today

Oklahoma didn’t suffer any strong wind damage this week, but wind farms in South Dakota certainly did.

Several wind turbines were toppled by the 130 MPH winds that hit the central part of the state Monday morning. They were described as straight line winds and not tornadoes. But the winds compared to those recorded in some tornadoes.

The 131-mph wind was recorded at Holabird in Hyde County at 6:15 a.m. local time.

A picture of the extensive damage showed at least 7 of the wind towers were bent over by the powerful Mother Nature.

According to a report by Energy News Beat, storm chaser Jakob McMillin documented the scene in a widely shared post on X (formerly Twitter), showing multiple wind turbine towers collapsed or heavily damaged, with blades and structural debris scattered across the prairie. In replies to his post, McMillin stated he observed “over 20” turbines destroyed or critically damaged.

The Affected Wind Farm

The damaged facility is the South Dakota Wind Energy Center (also known as the Highmore Wind Energy Project or Highmore Wind Farm), located approximately 10 miles south of Highmore.

Number of turbines: 27
Turbine model: GE Vernova 1.5s (1.5 MW each)
Total nameplate capacity: 40.5 MW
Commissioning year: 2003 (South Dakota’s first major wind farm)
Owner/Operator: NextEra Energy Resources (formerly FPL Energy)
Power purchaser: Basin Electric Power Cooperative

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South Dakota

Cooler temperatures, storm chances move into western South Dakota and northeast Wyoming

Published

5 hours ago

August 9, 2026

Press Room

Cooler temperatures, storm chances move into western South Dakota and northeast Wyoming

Cooler temperatures are on the way for western South Dakota and northeast Wyoming, but not before a round of thunderstorms. A midday storm window is expected Saturday, with stronger storms possible Sunday through Tuesday. The Faith and Philip areas face a Level 2 out of 5 severe thunderstorm risk Sunday.

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South Dakota

Sioux Falls woman dies in two-vehicle motorcycle crash near Sturgis

Published

17 hours ago

August 8, 2026

Press Room

Sioux Falls woman dies in two-vehicle motorcycle crash near Sturgis

LAWRENCE COUNTY, S.D. — A Sioux Falls woman died Thursday from injuries sustained in a two-vehicle crash near Sturgis.

The crash occurred at 1:06 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, on U.S. Highway 14A at mile marker 50, about 2 miles south of Sturgis. The eastbound lanes were closed for approximately one hour.

A 46-year-old Sioux Falls woman was driving a 2013 Suzuki Gladius 650 eastbound on U.S. Highway 14A. At the same time, a 77-year-old Wrentham, Massachusetts, man was driving a 2013 Victory Jackpot westbound, according to preliminary crash information.

The Victory driver failed to negotiate a curve, crossed into the eastbound lane and struck the Suzuki. The Suzuki driver was wearing a helmet and sustained fatal injuries. The Victory driver, who was also wearing a helmet, was transported to a Sturgis hospital with serious, non-life-threatening injuries.

The names of those involved have not been released pending notification of family members.

All information released is preliminary. The South Dakota Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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