South Dakota tornado and storm history
Tornadoes, hurricanes, hail, and severe storms recorded in South Dakota between 1950 and 2026, from NOAA's Storm Events Database. Search an address to see the storms that came closest to it.
1,947
Tornado reports
55,877
Storm events
147
Deaths, all storms
Every tornado track in South Dakota
1,906 county track segments since 1950, coloured by rating. Zoom in and each path widens to its surveyed width. Tap one for the storm.
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated
Tornadoes by decade in South Dakota
All tornado reports against only the strong ones (F2 and above). Averages are per year over the years the federal record covers completely — 1952, 1976 and 1993 are each missing whole months in NOAA’s own files and are left out.
| Decade | All reports | Strong (F2+) | All per year | Strong per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 89 | 45 | 10 | 5 |
| 1960s | 276 | 99 | 28 | 10 |
| 1970s | 271 | 46 | 30 | 5 |
| 1980s | 305 | 33 | 30 | 3 |
| 1990s | 283 | 23 | 31 | 3 |
| 2000s | 339 | 30 | 34 | 3 |
| 2010s | 216 | 27 | 22 | 3 |
The 2020s are left out because the decade is not finished. Reports are counted per county, so one tornado crossing a county line can appear more than once.
Significant recent events in South Dakota
Events with deaths, several injuries, $1M+ property damage, or tornadoes rated EF3 and up.
At 3:44 PM, the Lyman County Sheriff responded to a five-vehicle accident on Interstate 90, five miles west of Reliance. The collision occurred when a vehicle slowed due to near-blizzard conditions caused by high winds and snow showers. The South Dakota Department of Transportati…
A tornado developed east of Clear Lake, South Dakota, on the evening of June 28, 2025. Around 8:10 p.m., the tornado was still in a disorganized stage but was strong enough to intermittently touch down, rip a roof and door off of a barn and flip irrigation pivots on the north sid…
The tornado touched down 2 miles SE of Spring Creek just south of BIA route #30 and remained over open field. The tornado tracked to the east-northeast where it destroyed an outbuilding that was built with heavy wood and anchored to a cement slab. The outbuilding contents where t…
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 ea…
A two vehicle accident resulted in a fatality near the town of Milbank in near blizzard conditions, with the nearby Automated Weather Observing System recording a visibility of 1/4 miles during the accident. The COOP observer in Milbank would also record 11 inches of total snow f…
A deceased woman was found outdoors on January 19 just outside the city limits of Sioux Falls to the north of Family Park. Law enforcement noted the cause of death was exposure to the cold weather. Wind chill values throughout the day generally ranged from 10 to 30 below zero at …
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.
Rainfall amounts across Union County from June 20-22 ranged from around a third of an inch across southern areas to 1 to 2 inches across northern areas. Farther north and upstream, 6 to 10 inches of rain fell across portions of southeast South Dakota and northwest Iowa, with loca…
Rainfall amounts across Clay County from June 20-22 ranged from around a third of an inch across southern areas to 1 to 2 inches across northern areas. Farther north and upstream, 6 to 10 inches of rain fell across portions of southeast South Dakota, with locally higher amounts i…
Rainfall amounts across Bon Homme County from June 20-22 ranged from 2 to 3 inches with an estimated 5 to 6 inches across the far northern portion of the county. Overland flooding ensued with additional major flooding along the James River. One home experienced a partial basement…
Rainfall amounts across Lincoln County from June 20-22 ranged from 6 to 14 inches with at least two locations reporting amounts in excess of 17 inches. Widespread overland flooding ensued with additional record flooding along the Big Sioux River. County first responders were acti…
Rainfall amounts across McCook County from June 20-22 ranged from 5 to 8 inches. Widespread overland flooding ensued with additional flooding along the East Fork Vermillion River, West Fork Vermillion River, and Wolf Creek. Flood waters damaged 10 to 15 homes in Montrose, 8 to 10…
Rainfall amounts across Turner County from June 20-22 ranged from 5 to 10 inches. Widespread overland flooding ensued with additional major to record flooding along Turkey Ridge Creek, East Fork Vermillion River, West Fork Vermillion River, and the Vermillion River. Several homes…
Rainfall amounts across Davison County from June 20-22 ranged from 5 to 9 inches. Overland flooding ensued with additional major flooding along Firesteel Creek and the James River. County-wide, flood damages to roads ranged from gravel wash to more significant impacts involving e…
Rainfall amounts across Aurora County from June 20-22 ranged from 3 to 9 inches. Widespread overland flooding ensued. Numerous county and township roads were impacted by flood waters and closed. Interstate 90 was closed near the Aurora/Davison County line and South Dakota Highway…
Counties and zones
Each county’s full storm history, with its event count. Some entries are National Weather Service forecast zones rather than civil counties.
Aurora (645)
Beadle (1,044)
Bennett (605)
Bon Homme (812)
Brookings (844)
Brown (1,438)
Brule (707)
Buffalo (416)
Butte (945)
Butte / Except X Sw Butte (21)
Campbell (519)
Central Black Hills (200)
Central Black Hills / W Pennington / Pennington (6)
Central Foot Hills (30)
Central Foot Hills / C Pennington / Part of E Custer (12)
Charles Mix (958)
Clark (678)
Clay (708)
Codington (782)
Corson (940)
Custer (977)
Custer Co Plains (150)
Custer Plains (27)
Custer Plains / X E Custer (8)
Davison (809)
Day (747)
Deuel (534)
Dewey (814)
Douglas (547)
Eastern Fall River (12)
Edmunds (819)
Fall River (809)
Fall River Co. (16)
Fall River Co. / Fall River Except N (5)
Faulk (614)
Faulk and Spink (1)
Grant (566)
Gregory (751)
Haakon (843)
Hamlin (634)
Hand (867)
Hanson (566)
Harding (1,105)
Hermosa Foothills (126)
Hughes (802)
Hughes and Stanley (1)
Hutchinson (832)
Hyde (568)
Jackson (926)
Jerauld (529)
Jones (540)
Kingsbury (712)
Lake (664)
Lawrence (708)
Lincoln (959)
Lyman (927)
Marshall (621)
Mccook (744)
Mccook and Turner (1)
Mcpherson (650)
Meade (1,597)
Meade Co. Plains (49)
Meade Co. Plains / Except X Sw Meade (18)
Meade and Pennington (1)
Mellette (488)
Miner (537)
Minnehaha (1,554)
Moody (657)
Northern Black Hills (265)
Northern Black Hills / Lawrence Except N / Lawrence Except Sw Meade (19)
Northern Foot Hills (236)
Northern Foot Hills / N Lawrence / X Sw Butte / Part of Sw Meade (20)
Northern Foothills (20)
Northern Jackson (22)
Northern Meade Co Plains (240)
Northern Meade County Plains (2)
Northern Oglala Lakota (13)
Northern Perkins (19)
Oglala Lakota (881)
Pennington (2,429)
Pennington Co Plains (309)
Pennington Plains (45)
Pennington Plains / E Pennington (16)
Perkins (990)
Potter (559)
Rapid City (240)
Roberts (688)
Sanborn (649)
Southern Black Hills (159)
Southern Black Hills / Custer Except E / Nc Fall River (8)
Southern Foot Hills (129)
Southern Foot Hills / Part of N Fall River (6)
Southern Foothills (10)
Southern Jackson (11)
Southern Meade Co Plains (269)
Southern Oglala Lakota (11)
Southern Perkins (17)
Spink (865)
Stanley (702)
Stanley, Sully and Hughes (1)
Sturgis / Piedmont Foothills (189)
Sturgis-piedmont Foothills (23)
Sturgis/piedmont Foothills (1)
Sully (525)
Todd (777)
Tripp (795)
Turner (787)
Union (833)
Union and Lincoln (1)
Walworth (663)
Western Fall River (14)
Yankton (878)
Zeibach (2)
Ziebach (736)
Search your address
See every tornado that passed within 25 miles of a place in South Dakota, measured to its path.
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