South Dakota severe thunderstorm wind
Every recorded severe thunderstorm wind event since 1955 · 66 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 12,755 severe thunderstorm wind events in South Dakota from 1955 through June 30, 2026, about 377 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the September 24, 1986 thunderstorm wind in Brown County: 2 deaths and 5 injuries. South Dakota ranks 25th of 52 states and territories by count and 34th of 51 per square mile.
Severe thunderstorm wind in South Dakota, 1955 to 2026
Thunderstorm wind records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996.
- 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
- 1996: all 48 event types recorded from 1996
- Records
- 12,7551955 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 377average
- Deaths
- 15139 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $169Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 2022765 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 severe thunderstorm wind events common in South Dakota?
South Dakota averages about 377 severe thunderstorm wind events a year since 2000, 25th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2022 (765). Per 10,000 square miles of land, South Dakota records 1683 severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955, 34th of 51 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1955, 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 severe thunderstorm wind events?
Per square mile, Davison County leads South Dakota: 127 days with a severe thunderstorm wind event since 1955, 291.5 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Pennington County has the most thunderstorm wind records (642 since 1955); 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).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1955 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is the severe thunderstorm season in South Dakota?
64% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955 fell in June and July. The busiest month is July (4,461 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 0 · Feb 1 · Mar 29 · Apr 247 · May 1,210 · Jun 3,692 · Jul 4,461 · Aug 2,538 · Sep 465 · Oct 111 · Nov 0 · Dec 1 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1955.
What were the deadliest severe thunderstorm wind events in South Dakota?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986-09-24 | Thunderstorm WindBrown County | 2 | 5 | – | |
| 2024-07-31 | Thunderstorm WindDe Smet, Kingsbury County 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. | 43 kt wind | 2 | 0 | – |
| 2022-07-05 | Thunderstorm WindPickstown, Charles Mix County One storm episode: 22 records in 9 places; the totals are the episode's. A cluster of thunderstorms developed across eastern Montana and the western Dakotas during the morning hours. These storms organized and turned southeastward, feeding on rich inflow of post-frontal air with up to 3000 J/kg of MLCAPE and over 1000 J/kg of DCAPE. Along with strong storm-relative shear, parameters ... | 56 kt wind | 2 | 0 | $477K |
| 2022-05-12 | Thunderstorm WindColton, Minnehaha County One storm episode: 84 records in 18 places; the totals are the episode's. A volatile environment featured a warm front from parts of east central South Dakota into western Minnesota, with a dryline extending to the southwest into Nebraska. With a very strong wave moving northeast through Nebraska into a highly unstable and highly sheared environment, scattered storms initiated and quickly ... | 70 kt wind | 2 | 0 | $734K |
| 1984-06-11 | Thunderstorm WindMinnehaha County | 2 | 0 | – | |
| 1993-05-07 | Thunderstorm WindDell Rapids And, Minnehaha County Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (2, in 2 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. High winds destroyed several farm buildings in the Baltic and Dell Rapids area. There were also numerous reports of funnel clouds in the area. The storm was blamed for a two vehicle crash on a road west of Interstate 29 killing one driver and injuring the other. Roads were closed afterwards because of flooding caused ... | 1 | 13 | $11M | |
| 2006-04-17 | Thunderstorm WindOglala Lakota County A mobile home, west of Oglala, was destroyed by outflow winds from a nearby thunderstorm. The strong broadside winds caused the mobile home to roll over with several people inside. Five people were injured and there was one fatality. | 61 kt wind | 1 | 5 | $29K |
| 2013-06-21 | Thunderstorm WindStone Bridge, Hamlin County One storm episode: 14 records in 7 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong warm front along with very unstable air and strong deep layer winds brought several supercell thunderstorns along with a damaging line of thunderstorms/bow echo to parts of central and northeast South Dakota during the afternoon hours. Damaging winds up to 90 mph uprooted large trees and caused considerable ... | 78 kt wind | 1 | 2 | $1.4M |
| 2015-06-20 | Thunderstorm WindFt Thompson, Buffalo County One storm episode: 17 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. Two rounds of severe weather developed across central South Dakota during the afternoon and late evening hours. The first round of thunderstorms developed during the early afternoon hours of June 19th and quickly produced hail up to two inches in diameter. The thunderstorms proceeded to back build and train over the ... | 87 kt wind | 1 | 0 | – |
| 2009-07-20 | Thunderstorm WindHot Springs, Fall River County Wind gusts over Coldbrook Reservoir capsized a kayak, causing the occupant to drown. | 43 kt wind | 1 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest severe thunderstorm wind events in South Dakota
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994-07-06 | Thunderstorm WindOnida To Pierre, Stanley County Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (2; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. | 0 | 0 | $20M | |
| 2000-08-01 | Thunderstorm WindSpearfish, Lawrence County One storm episode: 4 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 95 kt wind | 0 | 8 | $17M |
| 2000-08-05 | Thunderstorm WindMitchell, Davison County | 104 kt wind | 0 | 10 | $14M |
| 1993-05-07 | Thunderstorm WindDell Rapids And, Minnehaha County Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (2, in 2 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. | 1 | 13 | $11M | |
| 2001-06-09 | Thunderstorm WindPhilip, Haakon County | 70 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $5.0M |
| 2002-07-28 | Thunderstorm WindSinai, Brookings County | 78 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $4.9M |
| 2021-08-28 | Thunderstorm WindLennox, Lincoln County One storm episode: 11 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 74 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $3.4M |
| 1999-08-11 | Thunderstorm WindLemmon, Perkins County | 0 | 0 | $2.7M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are severe thunderstorm wind events 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.
| Decade | South Dakota | United States | South Dakota's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955-59 | 92 | 3,482 | 2.6% |
| 1960s | 198 | 10,124 | 2.0% |
| 1970s | 408 | 18,714 | 2.2% |
| 1980s | 867 | 39,604 | 2.2% |
| 1990s | 1,064 | 85,554 | 1.2% |
| 2000s | 2,609 | 129,990 | 2.0% |
| 2010s | 3,864 | 161,286 | 2.4% |
| 2020-26 | 3,653 | 126,815 | 2.9% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent severe thunderstorm wind events in South Dakota
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindWhite River, Mellette County | 61 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindRosebud, Todd County | 55 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindParmelee, Todd County | 55 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindParmelee, Todd County | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindParmelee, Todd County | 67 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindParmelee, Todd County | 72 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindHarrington, Bennett County | 72 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindHarrington, Bennett County | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindMartin Municipal Airport, Bennett County | 70 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindMartin Municipal Airport, Bennett County | 57 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindPolo, Hand County | 70 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-29 | Thunderstorm WindHolabird, Hyde County | 113 kt wind | 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 severe thunderstorm wind events in South Dakota
FEMA files hail and wind disasters under the incident type Severe Storm: 34 declarations in South Dakota, 34 of them major disasters; the latest on September 1, 2026.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-01 | DR-4941 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 1 |
| 2026-09-01 | DR-4938 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 10 |
| 2024-11-01 | DR-4842 | Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 1 |
| 2022-08-02 | DR-4664 | Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 6 |
| 2022-06-29 | DR-4656 | Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 22 |
| 2019-11-18 | DR-4469 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 25 |
| 2019-10-07 | DR-4467 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 8 |
| 2019-06-20 | DR-4448 | Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding | 1 |
| 2017-02-01 | DR-4298 | Severe Winter Storm | 27 |
| 2015-08-07 | DR-4237 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 1 |
| 2015-07-30 | DR-4233 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 14 |
| 2013-11-08 | DR-4155 | Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding | 16 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Davison County: the county's whole recordThe South Dakota county with the most severe thunderstorm wind events per square mile
- Severe thunderstorm wind across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
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