318
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
6
Direct injuries
$907K
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Butte County, South Dakota: 318 recorded events between 1979 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 94. That places the county #392 nationally and #7 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Butte County, South Dakota: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Butte County is the 2010s, when 121 of the county's 318 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 Butte County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 46.9% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #392 for this hazard and #7 within South Dakota, putting it in the 87.5 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Butte County with 114 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.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2001 | BELLE FOURCHE | 78 | 0 | 5 | $213K |
| Jul 17, 2016 | NEWELL | 61 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12, 2025 | CASTLE ROCK | 54 | $0 |
| Aug 13, 2025 | NISLAND | 50 | $0 |
| Aug 13, 2025 | CASTLE ROCK | 50 | $0 |
| Jul 15, 2025 | HOOVER | 51 | $0 |
| Jul 15, 2025 | HOOVER | 51 | $0 |
| Jul 15, 2025 | HOOVER | 50 | $0 |
| Jul 6, 2025 | NEWELL | 63 | $0 |
| Jul 6, 2025 | NISLAND | 56 | $0 |
| Jul 6, 2025 | NISLAND | 54 | $0 |
| Jul 6, 2025 | NISLAND | 51 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Butte County
- Hail 310
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
,,,,,,,,(G65) ,,,,,,,,Hail(175) Thunderstorm winds blew down power lines and poles and blew down many tree limbs, one of which caused severe damage to a van, and ripped the roof off of a mobile home. Hail caused widespread damage to corn and other crops.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Butte County, South Dakota?
318 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Butte County between 1979 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Butte County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Butte County measured 94.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Butte 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.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in Butte County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/butte-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.