Codington County, South Dakota

What hazards hit Codington County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 225 since 1956. 65% of its hail reports since 1956 fell in June and July. 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 Codington County had?

NOAA records 35 tornadoes in Codington County from 1951 to 2026, the strongest rated F3, with 0 deaths and 6 injuries recorded in the county. That is 6th 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 34 tornadoes whose track touched Codington County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 35: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

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 Codington County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the May 19, 2025 lightning ($100,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

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

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 Codington 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).

Extreme cold in the 2010s: 23 records against 7 in the decade before, 23 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 Codington 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?

65% of its hail reports since 1956 fell in June and July. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Codington County

FEMA's register lists 23 declarations that include Codington County: 20 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (10) and severe storm (8).

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 Codington County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 88 flood or flash flood records for Codington County from 1997 to 2025, on 61 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Codington County ranks 530th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $6.6 million on 472 claims filed in Codington County; the most in one year was 198 in 1997. 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 Codington County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Codington County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $24.9 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 Codington County

1. Codington County 782
2. Day County 747
3. Clark County 678
4. Hamlin County 634
5. Grant County 566
6. Deuel County 534

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 Codington CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Codington County's FEMA declarations (CSV)23 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis