83
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$132K
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Grant County, South Dakota: 83 recorded events between 1960 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 100. That places the county #2,427 nationally and #61 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Grant County, South Dakota: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Grant County is the 2010s, when 25 of the county's 83 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 Grant County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 29.5% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #2,427 for this hazard and #61 within South Dakota, putting it in the 23.1 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Grant County with 29 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 31, 2008 | MILBANK | 87 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2025 | BIG STONE CITY | 52 | $0 |
| May 15, 2025 | BIG STONE CITY | 50 | $0 |
| Aug 6, 2022 | BIG STONE CITY | 57 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2022 | MILBANK | 78 | $0 |
| May 30, 2022 | BIG STONE CITY | 61 | $0 |
| May 30, 2022 | LABOLT | 61 | $0 |
| May 12, 2022 | BIG STONE CITY | 70 | $0 |
| May 12, 2022 | HILAND | 74 | $0 |
| Aug 28, 2021 | BIG STONE CITY | 61 | $0 |
| Aug 28, 2021 | HILAND | 56 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Grant County
- Hail 128
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
An estimated 100 mph winds destroyed two garages with flying debris damaging a house northeast of the garages in Big Stone City. Extensive tree damage occurred in town with trees down and along with many branches. The main structural damage in town was shingle damage and windows blown in that were facing the wind. Some metal siding was blown off the cheese factory on the northwest side of town with the roof of a towing/repair business across the road sustaining roof damage.
Winds gusting to 65 mph in and around Milbank took the roof off a mobile home in southeast Milbank and wrapped it around a utility pole. The people inside the mobile home got out uninjured, but their belongings inside were rain soaked. The Summit Dairy Barn had sustained major damage. The high winds also blew a shed and a large tennis court fence down. Several trees along with many large tree branches were downed all over town. The power was out on the west side of town for a few hours.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Grant County, South Dakota?
83 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Grant County between 1960 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Grant County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Grant County measured 100.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Grant 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 Grant County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/grant-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.