South Dakota natural disasters

The state's storm and disaster record · population 885,247 · 66 counties and county equivalents

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 55,877 storm events in South Dakota since 1950, 50,516 of them since 1996 when every event type began to be recorded, and the Storm Prediction Center counts 1,956 tornadoes in the state since 1950. The most frequent records are hail reports (17,011). In NOAA's storm record since 1950, the deadliest tornado day in South Dakota was May 30, 1998: tornadoes and the storms that came with them killed 6 people in the state; the deadliest of them in South Dakota, the Spencer tornado, killed 6 (SPC). FEMA has made 98 declarations for South Dakota since 1954, 93 for natural hazards; 65 were major disasters.

The record, 1950 to 2026

Storm events recorded in South Dakota each year (2026 to June 30, 2026). Before 1996 NOAA recorded only tornadoes (from 1950), thunderstorm wind and hail (from 1955).

recorded, no damage figure
under $1 million
$1 million or more
$10 million or more
$100 million or more, or 10 deaths
$1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
a year with a death
1955: wind and hail recorded from 1955
1996: all 48 event types from 1996

Storm events recorded: 55,8771950 to June 30, 2026
Deaths recorded: 147999 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars: $3.9Bas filed (scale steps before 1993)
Tornadoes (SPC): 1,9561950 to 2025
FEMA declarations: 9865 major disasters

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026 (file revision 20260918); tornado count: NOAA Storm Prediction Center, 1950-2025; damage in 2025 dollars (BLS CPI-U). Search the record at NCEI.

What natural disasters happen in South Dakota?

By NOAA's records, South Dakota's most frequent hazards are hail reports (17,011), severe thunderstorm wind events (12,755), winter storm records (10,128); the deadliest are winter storm records (73 deaths). Each hazard is counted over the years NOAA has recorded it everywhere: tornadoes since 1950, hail and thunderstorm wind since 1955, everything else since 1996. Open a hazard for its years, months, counties and worst events.

South Dakota: records by hazard to June 30, 2026
Hazard	Records	Last 10 years	Killed	Injured	Damage	Counties
Hail	17,011	3,965	0	65	$386M	66 of 66
Severe thunderstorm wind	12,755	4,784	15	139	$169M	66 of 66
Winter storms	10,128	3,976	73	228	$247M	66 of 66
High wind and dust storms	5,265	2,426	1	19	$12M	66 of 66
Floods	3,390	1,703	10	8	$1.4B	66 of 66
Drought	2,012	1,243	0	0	$738M	50 of 66
Extreme cold	1,993	1,260	12	2	–	66 of 66
Tornadoes	1,947	197	19	488	$927M	66 of 66
Heat	877	574	2	10	$62K	66 of 66
Fog, smoke and funnel clouds	203	92	8	14	$37K	56 of 66
Lightning	127	9	5	20	$6.7M	42 of 66
Heavy rain	85	23	1	4	$305K	33 of 66
Wildfires	84	27	1	2	$159K	43 of 66

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: every record counted once in the state; "last 10 years" is 2017-2026 (2026 to June 30, 2026).

What were the deadliest disasters in South Dakota?

The storms with the most deaths since 1950, from the National Weather Service's own entries. NOAA files one storm as several records when it crosses forecast zones and counties or changes type, and groups them under one episode; each row here is an episode, with its totals and the narrative of its deadliest record. Before 1996 tornado records carry no episode and stand alone. The narrative says what happened: some deaths the National Weather Service files under a weather type had another cause beside the weather.

South Dakota: the 10 storm episodes with the most deaths
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
1998-05-30	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Spencer, killed 6 (SPC) · TornadoSpencer, McCook County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. The tornado from Hanson County destroyed most of Spencer as it strengthened and continued to grow. Most homes, other buildings, and other structures in Spencer were completely levelled. Debris and belongings were scattered over a large area, and one receipt blown from Spencer was found just west of Chandler, MN about ...	F4 7 mi x 1,600 yd	6	150	$33M
2022-12-13	BlizzardTodd County · forecast zone Todd One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A powerful winter storm moved slowly across the central and northern Plains to the upper Midwest; bringing heavy snow, some mixed precipitation, strong winds, and periods of blizzard or near blizzard conditions across the plains for a multi-day period. Snowfall was heaviest from northwestern to south central South ...		6	0	–
1996-11-14	Ice StormAurora County · forecast zone Aurora One storm episode: 6 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. An ice storm consisting of several periods of freezing rain caused widespread damage and paralyzed travel. Widespread damage occurred to electrical poles and lines, leaving thousands without power for up to four days. Numerous accidents occurred, including many vehicles which slid off the road. One fatality occurred ...		3	50	$3.0M
1996-01-10	Ice StormCodington County · forecast zone Codington One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A narrow band of freezing rain caused major disruption to traffic just after the beginning of rush hour, especially in the cities of Sioux Falls and Watertown. Over one hundred accidents occurred, including a collision near Watertown which caused 3 fatalities. The ice accumulation was not enough to cause significant ...		3	16	$564K
1966-07-31	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Venturia, killed 2 (SPC) · TornadoMcPherson County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (2, in 2 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.	F3 25.1 mi x 280 yd	3	7	$250K step
2010-01-18	Dense FogHamlin County · forecast zone Hamlin Dense freezing fog created very low visibilities to 1/16 of a mile along with icy roads which contributed to a multi-vehicle wreck 11 miles south of Watertown. The accident killed three people and injured two others. Five vehicles, including a grain truck, were involved in the wreck about 930 am near the intersection ...		3	2	–
2013-10-03	BlizzardLawrence County · forecast zone Northern Black Hills A historic blizzard pounded western South Dakota with record-setting snowfall and strong winds for almost 48 hours from the evening of October 3 through the afternoon of October 5. One to two feet of snow was reported over the plains of western South Dakota, with three to five feet of snow falling over the northern ...		3	0	–
2018-03-10	Winter WeatherHutchinson County · forecast zone Hutchinson Light freezing rain produced ice accumulations up a tenth of an inch. There were three fatalities south of Parkston, SD on state highway 37 when a teenage driver lost control on icy roads, crossed the center line and collided with a semi-truck traveling in the opposite direction.		3	0	–
1986-09-24	Thunderstorm WindBrown County		2	5	–
1997-01-09	BlizzardCorson County · forecast zone Corson One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. A powerful Alberta Clipper and a deep Arctic High brought widespread and prolonged blizzard conditions, heavy drifting snow, and dangerous wind chills of 40 to 80 below to central and northeast South Dakota. North winds were from 30 to 50 mph gusting to 60 mph. The clipper dropped from 2 to 7 inches of snowfall on top ...		2	3	–

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 direct and indirect, as filed in this state, summed over the records of each episode (EPISODE_ID); a forecast-zone record counts the zone's deaths once. A tornado's whole-track deaths (SPC), on the state's tornado page, can be higher when the track crossed a state line. Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest records in South Dakota

South Dakota: the 8 records with the most damage since 1993, 2025 dollars
Date	Record	Damage
1997-04-05	BlizzardBennett County · forecast zone Bennett	$92M
2019-06-01	FloodTripp, Hutchinson County	$71M
2022-06-01	DroughtHutchinson County · forecast zone Hutchinson	$56M
2019-06-01	FloodVirgil, Beadle County	$52M
2024-06-21	FloodElk Pt, Union County	$51M
2019-06-01	FloodMansfield, Spink County	$51M
2019-06-01	FloodIrene, Turner County	$47M
2019-06-01	FloodBridgewater, McCook County	$47M

Before 1993 NOAA filed damage by category, not amount, so the list above starts in 1993. The highest category filed here before then (entered as $25M, in the dollars of the day) holds: July 14, 1970 (tornado, Lincoln County, 1 killed); June 16, 1992 (tornado, Buffalo County).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars with the BLS CPI-U. BLS consumer price index.

Which counties in South Dakota have the most records?

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950 attributed to each county (forecast-zone records count on every county the zone covers).

Every county in South Dakota

Billion-dollar disasters in South Dakota

NOAA counted 36 weather or climate disasters from 1980-2024 that cost at least $1 billion (adjusted for inflation) and affected South Dakota, led by severe storm (15). The most recent: Central and Northeast Severe Weather (2024); Upper Midwest Flooding (2024); Central and Eastern Severe Weather (2024).

South Dakota: billion-dollar disasters by type, 1980-2024
Type	Events	Total cost (NOAA's range)
Severe Storm	15	$2.0B-$5.0B
Drought	13	$10.0B-$20.0B
Flooding	5	$5.0B-$10.0B
Wildfire	2	$100M-$250M
Freeze	1	$5M-$100M

Every one of the 36, newest first

Central and Northeast Severe Weather2024
Upper Midwest Flooding2024
Central and Eastern Severe Weather2024
Southern/Midwestern Drought and Heatwave2023
Central Derecho2022
North Central Severe Weather2022
Western/Central Drought and Heat Wave2022
Central Severe Storms2021
Western Drought and Heat Wave2021
Central Severe Weather - Derecho2020
Central Severe Weather2020
Missouri River and North Central Flooding2019
North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana Drought2017
Central and Northeast Severe Weather2015
Southern Plains Tornadoes2015
Rockies/Central Plains Severe Weather2014
Western/Plains Drought/Heat Wave2013
Western Wildfires2012
U.S. Drought/Heat Wave2012
Midwest/Southeast Severe Weather2011
Missouri River flooding2011
Midwest/Plains/Southeast Drought2006
Numerous Wildfires2006
Midwest Drought2005
Severe Storms/Tornadoes2003
Western/Central Drought/Heat Wave2003
U.S. Drought2002
Northern Plains and Great Lakes Derecho, Tornadoes1998
Northern Plains Flooding1997
Midwest/Plains Tornadoes1994
Midwest Flooding1993
Northern Plains Drought1989
U.S. Drought/Heat Wave1988
Severe Storms and Hail1984
Freeze/Cold Wave1983
Central/Eastern Drought/Heat Wave1980

Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters, state summary for South Dakota, 1980-2024 (NCEI's last update; the product is archived). A disaster that affected several states counts in each. NCEI billion-dollar disasters.

Federal disaster declarations in South Dakota

FEMA has made 98 declarations for South Dakota since 1954: 65 major disasters, 6 emergencies and 27 fire management assistance declarations. The most common incident types are severe storm (34), fire (27), flood (21).

1950s 1
1960s 4
1970s 5
1980s 6
1990s 13
2000s 24
2010s 25
2020s 20

The 15 most recent declarations in South Dakota
Declared	Number	Type	Title	Areas named
2026-09-01	DR-4941	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding	1
2026-09-01	DR-4938	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding	10
2026-04-07	DR-4903	Straight-Line Winds	Straight-Line Winds	3
2026-03-13	FM-5622	Fire	Qury Fire	1
2025-09-11	DR-4890	Flood	Severe Storm and Flooding	1
2024-11-01	DR-4842	Severe Storm	Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding	1
2024-08-15	DR-4807	Flood	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding	25
2023-07-06	DR-4718	Flood	Flooding	11
2023-02-27	DR-4689	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorm	17
2023-02-20	DR-4688	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorm	1
2023-02-20	DR-4687	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorm	1
2022-08-02	DR-4664	Severe Storm	Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding	6
2022-06-29	DR-4656	Severe Storm	Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding	22
2021-10-04	FM-5418	Fire	Auburn Fire	1
2021-03-29	FM-5384	Fire	Schroeder Fire	1

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Flood insurance claims in South Dakota

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $62.3 million on 3,965 claims in 52 South Dakota counties. Claims count insured losses only.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk across South Dakota's counties

How FEMA's National Risk Index rates South Dakota's counties overall: a model of expected future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of events.

Relatively Moderate 1
Relatively Low 15
Very Low 50

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