Hail in Custer County, South Dakota

Hail in Custer County, South Dakota: 682 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 6. That places the county #29 nationally and #3 statewide for this hazard.

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

The busiest decade for hail in Custer County is the 2010s, when 251 of the county's 682 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 Custer County archive, hail makes up 70.0% of all recorded severe weather across 9 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #29 for this hazard and #3 within South Dakota, putting it in the 99.1 percentile of all U.S. counties.

Jul is the peak month for hail in Custer County with 261 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 229

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

682 hail events are recorded in Custer County between 1955 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.

What is the strongest hail recorded in Custer County?

The strongest hail on record in Custer County measured 6.

Where does the hail data for Custer 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.