72
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$27.5M
Property damage
Flood in Davison County, South Dakota: 72 recorded events between 2007 and 2024. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #130 nationally and #11 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Flood in Davison County, South Dakota: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for flood in Davison County is the 2010s, when 41 of the county's 72 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 Davison County archive, flood makes up 15.4% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #130 for this hazard and #11 within South Dakota, putting it in the 95.6 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for flood in Davison County with 16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 1, 2019 | LOOMIS | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2024 | (MHE)MITCHELL ARPT | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 22, 2024 | MT VERNON | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2024 | (MHE)MITCHELL ARPT | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2024 | METZGERVILLE | 0 | $10.3M |
| Jun 1, 2023 | (MHE)MITCHELL ARPT | 0 | $0 |
| May 1, 2023 | (MHE)MITCHELL ARPT | 0 | $0 |
| Apr 18, 2023 | LOOMIS | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 1, 2022 | LOOMIS | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 1, 2022 | LOOMIS | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 1, 2022 | LOOMIS | 0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Davison County
- Thunderstorm Wind 180
- Hail 166
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Runoff from occasional precipitation in late March and April maintained considerable flooding throughout the flood plain across Davison county. 416th Avenue near Rosedale Colony and 257th Street near the gage site were impacted by water. A direct fatality to a 22 year-old male occurred early on April 3, when his vehicle entered floodwaters around 7 feet in depth just west of the James River bridge on 250th Street.||The James River at Mitchell (gage site JRMS2) crested at 6.30 feet above flood stage on April 22, the sixth highest crest on record. Major flooding continued at the end of the month.
Heavy rainfall from September 10-12 totalling 7 to 8 inches near Mitchell led to widespread areal flooding. Travel was significantly hampered across most of the county, including the closure of Interstate 90. Smaller creeks and ponding resulted in the closure of most township and county roads. Five miles south of Mitchell, a bridge over Enemy Creek was washed out, requiring a swift water rescue of one person who was overwhelmed by the current. Three residents located one-half mile east of this bridge were also evacuated from waist deep waters. This bridge was one of nine damaged across the county. A no-wake order was placed on Lake Mitchell due to extremely high water. Significant street flooding occurred around Mitchell for the better part of three days. Property damage costs are rough estimates. Flooding also resulted in the loss of crops. Crop loss estimates provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.
Major flooding of the James River, as well as flooding of small streams and lakes in the county, continued through April. Much farmland remained flooded, both near to and away from the James River. The James River was 6.7 feet above flood stage near Mitchell on April 1st, and fell very slowly during the month. A large area of land and numerous roads were flooded at the start of the month. Water was running over other roads, from flooded streams, creeks, and fields as well as from the James River. Many roads were heavily damaged. Some homes and businesses were also flooded, with the flooding of these places slowly alleviating through the month. High water and groundwater levels from record precipitation in the year 2010, a main reason the flooding onset was so fast in March, was also a main reason that the flooding subsided so slowly during April.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many flood events are on record in Davison County, South Dakota?
72 flood events are recorded in Davison County between 2007 and 2024, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest flood recorded in Davison County?
The strongest flood on record in Davison County measured 0.
Where does the flood data for Davison 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
“Flood in Davison County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/davison-county/flood/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.