Grant County, South Dakota severe weather history spans 281 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 45.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,889 nationally and #58 in South Dakota.
281
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$1.1M
Property damage
The record
What the Grant County, South Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Grant County, South Dakota severe weather history averages 4.0 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 94 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 27 events fall before 1990 and 254 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is flash flood, with $310K in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Grant County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 128 | 0 | $100K | 2.75 | 1957–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 83 | 0 | $132K | 100 | 1960–2025 |
| Flood | 25 | 0 | $226K | 0 | 2008–2025 |
| Tornado | 22 | 0 | $280K | F2 | 1955–2023 |
| Flash Flood | 14 | 0 | $310K | 0 | 2005–2018 |
| Lightning | 5 | 0 | $12K | 0 | 2000–2017 |
| Funnel Cloud | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2009–2015 |
| Wildfire | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1999–1999 |
Decade by decade
Grant County, South Dakota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
23 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 22 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-05-17 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 18.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1979-08-03 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 20.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 1955-08-28 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-12 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-12 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 10.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2006-08-12 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1996-10-26 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1981-08-03 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Grant County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31, 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | MILBANK | 0 | 2 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The river crested at 1059.7 feet, or 3.7 feet above flood stage, at 2:00 p.m. CST on August 7th. At its peak, the water reached just shy of the bottom of the bridges on 145th Street and 480th Avenue. The low water crossing on 479th Avenue was flooded, along with nearby agricultural lands.
The North Fork Whetstone River gauge near Milbank peaked in moderate flood stage at 1062.40 feet on the evening of April 15th, with water crossing over 479th Avenue and topping the bridge on 144th Street. Additionally water reached the bridges at 145th Street and 480th Avenue. At this intersection, a vehicle drove into flood waters and drifted down river, initiating a multi agency water rescue. Additionally, significant amounts of agricultural land was flooded.
Big Sioux river near Florence peaked in major flood stage at 9.58 feet in the early morning hours of April 13th. This is a record flood stage for this location. Being the headwaters of the Big Sioux the main impacts were to local and county roads and bridges as well as agricultural lands.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
7,563
Population (ACS)
$171K
Median home value
22
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 6, 2023 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
| Jun 29, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 5, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jun 7, 2019 | Flood | SEVERE WINTER STORM, SNOWSTORM, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Feb 1, 2017 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Grant County, South Dakota?
281 events are on record between 1955 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $1.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Grant County?
Hail, with 128 recorded events — 45.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Grant County?
23 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 22 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Grant County?
22 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Grant County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Grant County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Grant County as very low risk, placing it in the 19 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Grant County, South Dakota severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Faulk County 366
- Gregory County 400
- Fall River County 677
- Haakon County 570
- Edmunds County 547
- Hamlin County 375
Cite this page
“Grant County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/grant-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.