Brookings County, South Dakota severe weather history spans 509 recorded events between 1956 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 35.0% of all recorded events. It ranks #844 nationally and #28 in South Dakota.
509
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
15
Direct injuries
$16.6M
Property damage
The record
What the Brookings County, South Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Brookings County, South Dakota severe weather history averages 7.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 163 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 64 events fall before 1990 and 445 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is thunderstorm wind, with $8.9M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Brookings County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 178 | 0 | $8.9M | 109 | 1956–2025 |
| Hail | 163 | 0 | $2.9M | 4.5 | 1961–2025 |
| Flood | 97 | 0 | $992K | 0 | 2006–2025 |
| Tornado | 32 | 0 | $3.1M | F3 | 1965–2023 |
| Flash Flood | 28 | 0 | $665K | 0 | 2002–2024 |
| Lightning | 8 | 0 | $106K | 0 | 1998–2009 |
| Funnel Cloud | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2016–2022 |
Decade by decade
Brookings County, South Dakota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
39 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 35 touched down inside it and 4 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993-06-07 | EF4 | 0 | 5 | 54.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1961-06-21 | EF3 | 1 | 7 | 156.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 1992-06-16 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1971-06-19 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 36.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 1971-06-19 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1968-06-21 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 16.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2001-06-13 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1996-08-06 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-06-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Brookings County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brookings | 0 | 12 | $5.0M |
| Jul 17, 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | BRUCE | 0 | 3 | $40K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Very strong winds, likely the result of a downburst in a severe thunderstorm, destroyed an apartment building, five mobile homes, 15 garages, and 16 vehicles, and damaged many other homes and vehicles. 12 people were treated for minor injuries from the storm. The storm also caused considerable damage to some area farms and the roof of a motel.
Thunderstorm winds caused widespread structural, tree, and power line damage in and near Sinai. The roof was ripped off a mobile home, a well drilling business was destroyed, the siding from another business was ripped off, part of a grain elevator was smashed, several garages were destroyed or heavily damaged, several trees were blown down and widespread tree debris littered the area, and power lines and poles were blown down. Power outages lasted until the next day. At a farm just east of Sinai, five grain bins, a machine shed, and several small shacks were destroyed, and the farmhouse was damaged, with about 300 thousand dollars in damage estimated at this farm alone. Other small farm structures in the area were reported to be destroyed or damaged. Crops in the area were heavily damaged by the wind and accompanying hail, with one witness watching as a bean field "just disappeared." The crop damage was widespread, but the amount of crop damage could not be determined.
Large hail falling over an area 20 miles long and almost 5 miles wide caused property and crop damage. The hail damaged siding and windows of homes as well as vehicles. An estimated 60,000 acres of crops were destroyed or damaged. Hail was discovered piled up 6 inches deep in some fields 6 hours after the storm. The affected area included the city of Brookings, where some of the largest hail was reported.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
35,353
Population (ACS)
$265K
Median home value
21
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 27, 2023 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND SNOWSTORM | DR |
| Jun 29, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 5, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Nov 18, 2019 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jun 7, 2019 | Flood | SEVERE WINTER STORM, SNOWSTORM, AND FLOODING | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Bruce 287
- Brookings 122
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Brookings County, South Dakota?
509 events are on record between 1956 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $16.6M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Brookings County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 178 recorded events — 35.0% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Brookings County?
39 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 35 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Brookings County?
21 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Brookings County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Brookings County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Brookings County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 50 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Brookings County, South Dakota severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Bon Homme County 479
- Brown County 1,102
- Bennett County 413
- Brule County 385
- Beadle County 689
- Buffalo County 179
Cite this page
“Brookings County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/brookings-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.