Miner County, South Dakota severe weather history spans 232 recorded events between 1956 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 47.4% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,236 nationally and #63 in South Dakota.
232
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
4
Direct injuries
$4.2M
Property damage
The record
What the Miner County, South Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Miner County, South Dakota severe weather history averages 3.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 104 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 31 events fall before 1990 and 201 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $2.9M 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 Miner County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 110 | 0 | $180K | 3 | 1956–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 75 | 0 | $282K | 86 | 1970–2025 |
| Tornado | 35 | 0 | $2.9M | F3 | 1962–2020 |
| Flood | 6 | 0 | $768K | 0 | 2011–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 3 | 0 | $50K | 0 | 2004–2010 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $20K | 0 | 1998–2004 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2020–2020 |
Decade by decade
Miner 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
43 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 36 touched down inside it and 7 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992-06-16 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2007-05-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 10.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 2007-05-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-06-07 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-06-07 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-06-07 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-06-16 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1984-06-07 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-05-08 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1962-05-15 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 4.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Miner County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 1962 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $0 | |
| Aug 2, 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | HOWARD | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $25K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Flooding of lakes and lowlands, including some farmland, continued in the county through April. While flooding of small streams abated, lake and lowland flooding continued with very slow improvement. Several roads remained flooded. High water and groundwater levels resulting from record precipitation in the previous year was the main reason that the flooding either grew worse or improved so slowly.
Rainfall amounts across Miner County from June 20-22 ranged from 4 to 9 inches. Overland flooding ensued with gravel wash reported on roads across three townships. Preliminary damage assessments estimate loss to public infrastructure across the county to be around 90 thousand dollars.
Heavy rainfall of 2 to 6 inches caused widespread flooding of roads and basements, especially in an area from the town of Howard to 4 miles north of Howard. Several county roads were washed out and some bridges were damaged. A golf course on the east side of Howard was flooded.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
2,300
Population (ACS)
$143K
Median home value
20
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 15, 2024 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | 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 |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Miner County, South Dakota?
232 events are on record between 1956 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $4.2M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Miner County?
Hail, with 110 recorded events — 47.4% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Miner County?
43 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 36 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Miner County?
20 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Miner County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Miner County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Miner County as very low risk, placing it in the 3 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Miner 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
- Mellette County 303
- Minnehaha County 1,164
- Meade County 1,584
- Moody County 323
- Oglala Lakota County 676
- Marshall County 346
Cite this page
“Miner County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/miner-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.