Hail in Bennett County, South Dakota

Hail in Bennett County, South Dakota: 221 recorded events between 1964 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 4.25. That places the county #530 nationally and #29 statewide for this hazard.

Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.

The busiest decade for hail in Bennett County is the 2000s, when 99 of the county's 221 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.

Within the Bennett County archive, hail makes up 53.5% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #530 for this hazard and #29 within South Dakota, putting it in the 83.0 percentile of all U.S. counties.

Jun is the peak month for hail in Bennett County with 79 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.

• Thunderstorm Wind 144

Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain

How many hail events are on record in Bennett County, South Dakota?

221 hail events are recorded in Bennett County between 1964 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.

What is the strongest hail recorded in Bennett County?

The strongest hail on record in Bennett County measured 4.25.

Where does the hail data for Bennett County come from?

All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.