81
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$0
Property damage
Hail in Buffalo County, South Dakota: 81 recorded events between 1959 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 4. That places the county #1,690 nationally and #66 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Hail in Buffalo County, South Dakota: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for hail in Buffalo County is the 2000s, when 31 of the county's 81 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 Buffalo County archive, hail makes up 45.3% of all recorded severe weather across 6 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #1,690 for this hazard and #66 within South Dakota, putting it in the 45.7 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for hail in Buffalo County with 26 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 15, 2025 | SHELBY | 1 | $0 |
| Apr 23, 2022 | GANN VLY | 1.75 | $0 |
| Aug 30, 2020 | GANN VLY | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 26, 2020 | SHELBY | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 13, 2017 | FT THOMPSON | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 11, 2017 | GANN VLY | 1 | $0 |
| May 27, 2016 | FT THOMPSON | 1 | $0 |
| Aug 9, 2015 | GANN VLY | 1 | $0 |
| Aug 9, 2015 | GANN VLY | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 1, 2015 | FT THOMPSON | 1.25 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Buffalo County
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Hail from marble up to golfball size combined with strong winds to damage thousands of acres of winter and spring wheat along with oats and corn southwest through south of Gann Valley. At a farmhouse southwest of Gann Valley, fifteen windows were knocked out by golfball size hail.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many hail events are on record in Buffalo County, South Dakota?
81 hail events are recorded in Buffalo County between 1959 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest hail recorded in Buffalo County?
The strongest hail on record in Buffalo County measured 4.
Where does the hail data for Buffalo 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 Buffalo County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/buffalo-county/hail/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.