437
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$6K
Property damage
Hail in Brown County, South Dakota: 437 recorded events between 1959 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 4.5. That places the county #131 nationally and #6 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Hail in Brown County, South Dakota: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for hail in Brown County is the 2010s, when 126 of the county's 437 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 Brown County archive, hail makes up 39.7% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #131 for this hazard and #6 within South Dakota, putting it in the 95.8 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for hail in Brown County with 116 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.
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2025 | WINSHIP | 1.5 | $0 |
| Aug 5, 2025 | WINSHIP | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 15, 2025 | ABERDEEN | 0.75 | $0 |
| Jul 15, 2025 | ABERDEEN | 0.75 | $0 |
| Jul 15, 2025 | WINSHIP | 0.75 | $0 |
| Jul 31, 2024 | GROTON MUNI ARPT | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 10, 2024 | FREDERICK | 1.25 | $0 |
| Jul 6, 2024 | GROTON | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 3, 2024 | CLAREMONT | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 3, 2024 | COLUMBIA | 1.5 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Brown County
- Thunderstorm Wind 404
- Flood 140
- Tornado 84
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A severe hailstorm with hail up to baseball size damaged a home and at least 160 acres of wheat and corn seven miles west of Barnard. Windows were knocked out on several other homes and farm buildings in the area. Most of the hail was from 0.75 to 1.75 of an inch in diameter.
A severe thunderstorm hit Groton with hail, damaging lightning, and 3.43 inches of rain which flooded some basements. At a high school, lightning split a 30-foot chimney which fell through a large skylight and sections of the roof. This resulted in extensive water damage to ceiling tiles in classrooms, due to the heavy rains.
A satellite depicted hail swath from a severe thunderstorm from Edmunds county continued across southern Brown County and then to the east northeast into Day County. Hail size was up to baseball along the storm's path. The scar dimensions covered approximately 120 square miles in Brown County.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many hail events are on record in Brown County, South Dakota?
437 hail events are recorded in Brown County between 1959 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest hail recorded in Brown County?
The strongest hail on record in Brown County measured 4.5.
Where does the hail data for Brown 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 Brown County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/brown-county/hail/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.