Hand County, South Dakota

What hazards hit Hand County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 326 since 1965. 61% of its hail reports since 1965 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 Hand County had?

NOAA records 40 tornadoes in Hand County from 1959 to 2023, the strongest rated F3, with 1 death and 10 injuries recorded in the county. 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 45 tornadoes whose track touched Hand County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 40: 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 Hand County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the April 1, 2025 winter weather (1 death).

A single vehicle crash resulted in a fatality 1 mile west of Wessington on highway 14 due to icy conditions on the morning of April 2nd. The vehicle left the road and landed in a ditch where it rolled. The COOP observer 2 miles southeast of Wessington recorded 3 inches of snow early on April 1st, which would see partial melting during the day as temperatures warmed into the mid 30s before falling below freezing overnight.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1238916)

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 Hand 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 2010s: 22 records against 6 in the decade before, 22 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 Hand 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?

61% of its hail reports since 1965 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 Hand County

FEMA's register lists 22 declarations that include Hand County: 19 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (9) 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 Hand County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 42 flood or flash flood records for Hand County from 1997 to 2024, on 36 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Hand County ranks 2436th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $122,000 on 8 claims filed in Hand County; the most in one year was 3 in 2011. 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 Hand County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Hand County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $4.4 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 Hand County

1. Beadle County 1,044
2. Hand County 867
3. Spink County 865
4. Faulk County 615
5. Hyde County 568
6. Jerauld County 529
7. Buffalo County 416

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 Hand CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Hand County's FEMA declarations (CSV)22 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis