Sully County, South Dakota severe weather history spans 278 recorded events between 1956 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 52.5% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,910 nationally and #59 in South Dakota.
278
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$532K
Property damage
The record
What the Sully County, South Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Sully County, South Dakota severe weather history averages 4.0 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 99 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 40 events fall before 1990 and 238 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is flash flood, with $275K 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 Sully County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 146 | 0 | $0 | 4.25 | 1967–2024 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 97 | 0 | $0 | 108 | 1956–2026 |
| Tornado | 21 | 0 | $76K | F2 | 1965–2021 |
| Flood | 7 | 0 | $181K | 0 | 2011–2019 |
| Flash Flood | 4 | 0 | $275K | 0 | 1999–2009 |
| Funnel Cloud | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2007–2021 |
Decade by decade
Sully 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
18 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 18 touched down inside it and 0 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971-10-01 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2006-08-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1982-07-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1974-04-27 | EF1 | 0 | 1 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-05-08 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-10-13 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2006-06-24 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2003-06-11 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2003-06-11 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1999-07-22 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Sully County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 1974 | 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
A severe thunderstorm moved out of northern Stanley county and across central Sully county bringing golf ball hail and winds up to eighty mph. The hail and winds created a path of crop and pasture destruction as it moved east into northern Hyde county. There was also some property damage along the storms path.
Large hail and damaging winds destroyed thousands of acres of crops and pastureland as a severe thunderstorm moved out of southeast Dewey county, across Sully county and through Hughes county. Some property damage also resulted from the severe winds and hail.
A supercell thunderstorm produced an F1 intensity tornado northeast of Onida. The tornado traveled for 5 miles in Sully county and had a path width of up to 600 yards. The tornado caused significant damage to a farmstead 6 miles east and 4 miles north of Onida. The ground in a harvested sunflower field was heavily scoured. Many large hay bales were scattered about. The tornado finally lifted in an open field 10 miles east northeast to Onida.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
1,526
Population (ACS)
$205K
Median home value
16
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Feb 1, 2017 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR |
| May 13, 2011 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
| May 13, 2010 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Onida 113
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Sully County, South Dakota?
278 events are on record between 1956 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths and $532K in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Sully County?
Hail, with 146 recorded events — 52.5% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Sully County?
18 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 18 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Sully County?
16 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Sully County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Sully County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Sully County as very low risk, placing it in the 6 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Sully 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
- Stanley County 429
- Todd County 567
- Spink County 595
- Tripp County 595
- Turner County 423
- Sanborn County 323
Cite this page
“Sully County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/sully-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.