Hail in Lawrence County, South Dakota

Hail in Lawrence County, South Dakota: 533 recorded events between 1956 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 4.5. That places the county #75 nationally and #4 statewide for this hazard.

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

The busiest decade for hail in Lawrence County is the 2010s, when 212 of the county's 533 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 Lawrence County archive, hail makes up 75.8% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #75 for this hazard and #4 within South Dakota, putting it in the 97.6 percentile of all U.S. counties.

Jul is the peak month for hail in Lawrence County with 158 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 114

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

533 hail events are recorded in Lawrence County between 1956 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.

What is the strongest hail recorded in Lawrence County?

The strongest hail on record in Lawrence County measured 4.5.

Where does the hail data for Lawrence 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.