321
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$1.0M
Property damage
Hail in Hand County, South Dakota: 321 recorded events between 1965 and 2024. The strongest on record measured 4. That places the county #270 nationally and #11 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Hail in Hand County, South Dakota: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for hail in Hand County is the 2000s, when 132 of the county's 321 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 Hand County archive, hail makes up 55.4% of all recorded severe weather across 6 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #270 for this hazard and #11 within South Dakota, putting it in the 91.3 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for hail in Hand County with 108 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 12, 1994 | Miller | 2.75 | 0 | 1 | $500K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 6, 2024 | REE HGTS | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 3, 2024 | ST LAWRENCE | 2.75 | $0 |
| Jun 2, 2024 | MILLER | 2.75 | $0 |
| Jun 2, 2024 | REE HGTS | 2.75 | $0 |
| Jun 2, 2024 | REE HGTS | 2.75 | $0 |
| May 24, 2024 | VAYLAND | 1.75 | $0 |
| May 23, 2024 | POLO | 1 | $0 |
| Aug 10, 2023 | ST LAWRENCE | 1.75 | $0 |
| Jul 30, 2023 | DANFORTH | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 26, 2023 | DANFORTH | 0.75 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Hand County
- Thunderstorm Wind 171
- Tornado 40
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The storm caused an estimated $3 million in crop damage. The damage path was estimated to be about 22 miles long and 4.5 miles wide. Hail was reported in drifts of three to four feet and large trees were blown down. About 70 thousand acres of cropland and pastures were completely destroyed. The hail killed pheasants and ducks and injured cattle. Many windows were broken in homes, holes were punched in mobile homes, damaged occured to contents of homes from hail which entered through windows, and many vehicles were extensively damaged. A man trying to hold a broken window together suffered a cut hand when hail shattered the glass.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many hail events are on record in Hand County, South Dakota?
321 hail events are recorded in Hand County between 1965 and 2024, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest hail recorded in Hand County?
The strongest hail on record in Hand County measured 4.
Where does the hail data for Hand 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
“Hail in Hand County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/hand-county/hail/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.