128
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$652K
Property damage
Hail in Sanborn County, South Dakota: 128 recorded events between 1958 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 5. That places the county #1,125 nationally and #58 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Hail in Sanborn County, South Dakota: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for hail in Sanborn County is the 2000s, when 65 of the county's 128 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 Sanborn County archive, hail makes up 39.6% of all recorded severe weather across 6 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #1,125 for this hazard and #58 within South Dakota, putting it in the 63.8 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for hail in Sanborn County with 41 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 1991 | 5 | 0 | 1 | $0 | |
| May 28, 1991 | 4 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 2025 | WOONSOCKET | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 20, 2025 | WOONSOCKET | 1.5 | $0 |
| Jul 7, 2025 | WOONSOCKET | 0.88 | $0 |
| May 19, 2025 | ARTESIAN | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 4, 2023 | WOONSOCKET | 0.75 | $0 |
| Jul 3, 2022 | WOONSOCKET | 1 | $0 |
| Aug 23, 2021 | LETCHER | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 3, 2019 | WOONSOCKET | 1 | $0 |
| Sep 20, 2017 | WOONSOCKET | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 26, 2017 | LETCHER | 1 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Sanborn County
- Thunderstorm Wind 84
- Flood 84
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Large hail broke windows and destroyed siding on one side of a farmhouse. The hail severely damaged crops along almost a 3 mile stretch. One farmer estimated that 60 acres of corn and 100 acres of small grain on his farm were a total loss.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many hail events are on record in Sanborn County, South Dakota?
128 hail events are recorded in Sanborn County between 1958 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest hail recorded in Sanborn County?
The strongest hail on record in Sanborn County measured 5.
Where does the hail data for Sanborn 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 Sanborn County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/sanborn-county/hail/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.