Roberts County, South Dakota severe weather history spans 341 recorded events between 1951 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 40.8% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,549 nationally and #49 in South Dakota.
341
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$4.6M
Property damage
The record
What the Roberts County, South Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Roberts County, South Dakota severe weather history averages 4.6 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 107 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 38 events fall before 1990 and 303 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Roberts County, South Dakota record is tornado, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $3.0M in reported property damage. In total, 6 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Roberts County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 139 | 0 | $505K | 83 | 1961–2025 |
| Hail | 132 | 0 | $555K | 4 | 1956–2025 |
| Tornado | 32 | 1 | $3.0M | F2 | 1951–2023 |
| Flood | 24 | 0 | $341K | 0 | 2007–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 12 | 0 | $155K | 0 | 2005–2025 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2007–2025 |
Decade by decade
Roberts 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
30 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 29 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-09-23 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 1979-08-03 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 20.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1964-05-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1951-07-08 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1979-06-19 | EF1 | 1 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-06-13 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2012-06-17 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1994-10-06 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-06-22 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1972-07-11 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Roberts County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 1979 | Tornado | 1 | 0 | $2.5M | |
| Jul 9, 1951 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A tornado destroyed several small farm buildings, a garage, damaged farm machinery, blew down a grain bin, and uprooted several trees. Several hogs were killed when their shed was destroyed and minor damage was done to some homes. The tornado drove a 6 foot long 1×6 piece of lumber through the center of a large tree limb.
Emergency management reports several county and township roads under water, in addition to the number of streets under water in the city of Sisseton. Flooding would impact numerous businesses, including Lakes Gas, where about 40 propane tanks were observed floating in flood waters. Numerous cars were also inundated by these flood waters.
Roberts County Emergency Management reports that barricades were required at several locations where water has come up over highways and secondary roads, from portions of highway 15 near Wilmot all the way up to 123rd St 3 miles north of Agency Village.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
10,221
Population (ACS)
$155K
Median home value
24
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 6, 2023 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
| 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 |
| Jun 7, 2019 | Flood | SEVERE WINTER STORM, SNOWSTORM, AND FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Roberts County, South Dakota?
341 events are on record between 1951 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $4.6M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Roberts County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 139 recorded events — 40.8% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Roberts County?
30 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 29 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Roberts County?
24 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Roberts County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Roberts County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Roberts County as very low risk, placing it in the 38 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Roberts 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
- Potter County 309
- Sanborn County 323
- Perkins County 727
- Pennington County 2,406
- Spink County 595
- Oglala Lakota County 676
Cite this page
“Roberts County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/roberts-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.