SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO-AM) -- Nature traded one performance for another early this afternoon.
Thick clouds and light rain turned to heavy rain and lightning just after the solar eclipse around 1:05 p.m.
Thus, one light show was replaced with another, with lightning cracking instead of the moon obscuring the sun.
Rain was all across Sioux Falls, with the southeast part of town particularly hard hit, with considerable street flooding. KELO Radio's Rick Williams reported flooding in his back yard (photo) in the southeast quadrant of the city.
One KELO-AM listener who lives at 69th and Cliff Avenue reported 8 inches of rain in her rain gauge. Another listener reported 4 1/2 inches of rain about a half a mile away at the 2200 block of east Tamarack.
The National Weather Service reported between 7 and 1.8 inches in the Sioux Falls area. Officially, 2.50 inches of rain were recorded at the airport.
Brief spells of hail were also reported in parts of the region. Some of the largest coming in Hutchinson County where golf ball size stones fell in the Parkston area.
Along west 57th Street and Western Avenue between 57th and 41st Streets, there was considerable water in the gutters, spreading out into the driving lane, forcing drivers to make rooster tails as they drove.
The Sioux Falls metro area remains in a severe thunderstorm watch until 7 p.m.
(KELO Radio's Mike Leischner contributed to this report)