Thursday June 18, 2015 marked the one year anniversary of the Wessington Springs tornado.  The community gathered to mark the occasion, including a moment of silence at 7:47 PM, the exact moment the tornado went through their town a year ago.

Todd Heitkamp from the national weather service recalls one of the things that stands out to him, it was the lives saved because people took the warning seriously.

The tornado was an EF-2, with winds at 125 miles per hour.

Heitkamp says the system had already produced a tornado, and the National Weather service wanted to give as much time as possible for residents to take cover.

Thanks to the National Weather service, towns are often getting a longer advance notice for severe weather compared to a decade ago.  Wessington Springs had a 30 minute warning and the town of Delmont received 20 minutes before the tornado came through.

 

 

 

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