PlainHazard

South Dakota drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 50 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 2,012 drought records in South Dakota from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 124 a year since 2000. The costliest was the July 1, 2022 drought ($136 million in 2025 dollars). South Dakota ranks 11th of 51 states and territories by count and 27th of 50 per square mile.

Drought in South Dakota, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • 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
Records
2,0121996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
124average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$738Mas filed
Busiest year
2021339 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in South Dakota?

South Dakota averages about 124 drought records a year since 2000, 11th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2021 (339). Per 10,000 square miles of land, South Dakota records 265 drought records since 1996, 27th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466
  11. 27. South Dakota 265

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in South Dakota have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Union County leads South Dakota: 64 days with a drought record since 1996, 138.9 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Dewey County has the most drought records (64 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Union County 138.9 (64)
  2. Clay County 138.3 (57)
  3. Douglas County 113.5 (49)
  4. Davison County 112.5 (49)
  5. Yankton County 111.3 (58)
  6. Bon Homme County 104.7 (59)
  7. Hanson County 98.9 (43)
  8. Turner County 97.2 (60)
  9. Lincoln County 95.3 (55)
  10. Jerauld County 89.3 (47)
  11. McCook County 87.1 (50)
  12. Buffalo County 82.7 (39)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in South Dakota?

South Dakota's drought records by month. The busiest month is March (203 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 118 · Feb 162 · Mar 203 · Apr 188 · May 95 · Jun 191 · Jul 183 · Aug 179 · Sep 154 · Oct 191 · Nov 192 · Dec 156 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest drought records in South Dakota

South Dakota: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2022-07-01 DroughtBon Homme County · forecast zone Bon Homme One storm episode: 6 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $136M
2022-06-01 DroughtHutchinson County · forecast zone Hutchinson One storm episode: 12 records in 12 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $102M
2023-07-01 DroughtBeadle County · forecast zone Beadle One storm episode: 15 records in 15 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $85M
2022-08-02 DroughtHutchinson County · forecast zone Hutchinson One storm episode: 12 records in 12 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $80M
2021-07-01 DroughtYankton County · forecast zone Yankton One storm episode: 24 records in 24 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $61M
2022-07-26 DroughtTurner County · forecast zone Turner One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $53M
2022-09-13 DroughtAurora County · forecast zone Aurora One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $35M
2022-05-01 DroughtMcCook County · forecast zone McCook One storm episode: 9 records in 9 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $33M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in South Dakota?

South Dakota's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: South Dakota and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeSouth DakotaUnited StatesSouth Dakota's share
1996-99485,6000.9%
2000s25418,5711.4%
2010s58731,4411.9%
2020-261,12330,1473.7%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in South Dakota

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-02 DroughtKingsbury County · forecast zone Kingsbury 0 0 –
2026-06-02 DroughtBrookings County · forecast zone Brookings 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtLincoln County · forecast zone Lincoln 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtClay County · forecast zone Clay 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtTurner County · forecast zone Turner 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtBrule County · forecast zone Brule 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtSanborn County · forecast zone Sanborn 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtMiner County · forecast zone Miner 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtJerauld County · forecast zone Jerauld 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtBeadle County · forecast zone Beadle 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtYankton County · forecast zone Yankton 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtGregory County · forecast zone Gregory 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in South Dakota

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in South Dakota for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on June 17, 1976.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1976-06-17EM-3015Drought62

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

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