Thunderstorm Wind in Clay County, South Dakota

Thunderstorm Wind in Clay County, South Dakota: 113 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 81. That places the county #2,041 nationally and #51 statewide for this hazard.

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

The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Clay County is the 2000s, when 29 of the county's 113 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 Clay County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 29.5% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #2,041 for this hazard and #51 within South Dakota, putting it in the 35.1 percentile of all U.S. counties.

Jun is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Clay County with 36 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.

• Hail 174
• Flood 44

Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain

How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Clay County, South Dakota?

113 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Clay County between 1955 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.

What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Clay County?

The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Clay County measured 81.

Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Clay 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.