Charles Mix County, South Dakota

What hazards hit Charles Mix County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 291 since 1958. 47% of its hail reports since 1958 fell in May and June. The rank column places the county among South Dakota's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Charles Mix County had?

NOAA records 45 tornadoes in Charles Mix County from 1954 to 2019, the strongest rated F3, with 1 death and 6 injuries recorded in the county. That is 18th of 66 South Dakota counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 47 tornadoes whose track touched Charles Mix County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 45: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 1 person.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in South Dakota.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Charles Mix County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 20, 2024 flood ($2.8 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

Rainfall amounts across Charles Mix County from June 20-22 generally ranged from 2 to 5 inches. This rainfall worsened some minor water issues from thunderstorms earlier in the week, especially near Choteau Creek. Some overland flooding resulted in damage to many roads and culverts across the county. South Dakota Highway 46-50 was closed just west of Wagner in a construction zone where there was active work on replacing culverts. In addition, there were a few homes that reported water in their basements. Preliminary damage assessments estimate loss to public infrastructure to be 3 million dollars.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1194958)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Charles Mix County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

High wind and dust storms in the 2020-26: 49 records against 9 in the decade before, 49 of them forecast-zone records. Drought in the 2020-26: 37 records against 12 in the decade before, 37 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Charles Mix County days with a record above.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

47% of its hail reports since 1958 fell in May and June. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Charles Mix County

FEMA's register lists 17 declarations that include Charles Mix County: 14 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (7) and severe storm (5).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Charles Mix County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 71 flood or flash flood records for Charles Mix County from 1997 to 2024, on 50 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Charles Mix County ranks 2321st of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $504,000 on 11 claims filed in Charles Mix County; the most in one year was 4 in 2019. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Charles Mix County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Charles Mix County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $13.2 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Charles Mix County

1. Charles Mix County 958
2. Lyman County 927
3. Hutchinson County 832
4. Bon Homme County 812
5. Knox County, NE 776
6. Gregory County 751
7. Brule County 707
8. Aurora County 645
9. Douglas County 547
10. Boyd County, NE 418

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in South DakotaEvery South Dakota tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Hail in South DakotaThe state's hail reports, by county, year and month
• The South Dakota recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Charles Mix CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Charles Mix County's FEMA declarations (CSV)17 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis