171
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$500
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Hand County, South Dakota: 171 recorded events between 1956 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 87. That places the county #1,300 nationally and #30 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Hand County, South Dakota: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Hand County is the 2010s, when 56 of the county's 171 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 Hand County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 29.5% of all recorded severe weather across 6 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #1,300 for this hazard and #30 within South Dakota, putting it in the 58.5 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Hand County with 74 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 17, 1992 | 78 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2025 | REE HGTS | 56 | $0 |
| Aug 6, 2025 | POLO | 57 | $0 |
| Jul 23, 2025 | REE HGTS | 57 | $0 |
| Jul 20, 2025 | DANFORTH | 63 | $0 |
| Jul 20, 2025 | DANFORTH | 52 | $0 |
| Jul 10, 2025 | VAYLAND | 52 | $0 |
| Jun 29, 2025 | REE HGTS | 50 | $0 |
| Jul 14, 2024 | REE HGTS | 65 | $0 |
| Jul 6, 2024 | POLO | 51 | $0 |
| May 23, 2024 | ST LAWRENCE | 66 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Hand County
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Ninety mph winds destroyed three barns and a small garage along with severely damaging a creeper feeder and an enclosed trailer. Another building was moved from its foundation and damaged. An empty school bus was rolled several times before it came to rest atop a fence. Also, a window was broken out of the house.
Winds gusting to 80 mph at a farm north of Miller caused a barn to collapse, blew apart a granary, tore the shingles off one side of chicken coop, moved it off of its foundation, and blew the windows out of the top. The high winds also downed a dozen or so big tree limbs.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Hand County, South Dakota?
171 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Hand County between 1956 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Hand County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Hand County measured 87.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Hand 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
“Thunderstorm Wind in Hand County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/hand-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.