Kingsbury County, South Dakota

What hazards hit Kingsbury County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 187 since 1958. 55% of its hail reports since 1958 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 Kingsbury County had?

NOAA records 47 tornadoes in Kingsbury County from 1959 to 2023, the strongest rated F4, with 0 deaths and 4 injuries recorded in the county. That is 21st 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 48 tornadoes whose track touched Kingsbury County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 47: 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, 0 of them in Kingsbury County.

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 Kingsbury County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the July 31, 2024 thunderstorm wind (2 deaths).

Thunderstorm outflow winds churned up large waves on Lake Henry after 2000 CST. Indirect fatalities occurred when two persons on flotation devices were overcome by the high wave action and drowned.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1206026)

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 Kingsbury 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: 20 records against 6 in the decade before, 20 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 Kingsbury 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?

55% of its hail reports since 1958 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 Kingsbury County

FEMA's register lists 24 declarations that include Kingsbury County: 22 major disasters, 2 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (10) and flood (9).

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 Kingsbury County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 18 flood or flash flood records for Kingsbury County from 1997 to 2023, on 16 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Kingsbury County ranks 1689th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $621,000 on 47 claims filed in Kingsbury County; the most in one year was 24 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 Kingsbury County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Kingsbury County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $6.7 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 Kingsbury County

1. Beadle County 1,044
2. Brookings County 844
3. Kingsbury County 712
4. Clark County 678
5. Lake County 664
6. Sanborn County 649
7. Hamlin County 634
8. Miner County 537

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 Kingsbury CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Kingsbury County's FEMA declarations (CSV)24 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis