Hughes County, South Dakota severe weather history spans 512 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 50.0% of all recorded events. It ranks #835 nationally and #27 in South Dakota.
512
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
10
Direct injuries
$3.1M
Property damage
The record
What the Hughes County, South Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Hughes County, South Dakota severe weather history averages 7.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 134 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 112 events fall before 1990 and 400 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $2.6M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Hughes County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 256 | 0 | $2K | 86 | 1956–2025 |
| Hail | 210 | 0 | $0 | 4.5 | 1955–2025 |
| Flood | 18 | 0 | $185K | 0 | 2010–2020 |
| Flash Flood | 13 | 0 | $280K | 0 | 1999–2024 |
| Tornado | 12 | 0 | $2.6M | F3 | 1963–2003 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $50K | 0 | 2004–2008 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2019–2019 |
Decade by decade
Hughes 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
15 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 15 touched down inside it and 0 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973-07-23 | EF3 | 0 | 10 | 2.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-06-12 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-06-30 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1997-07-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-06-07 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-06-12 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1997-07-16 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1995-08-27 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1994-07-06 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-07-22 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Hughes County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 23, 1973 | Tornado | 0 | 10 | $2.5M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Very heavy rain of over 3 inches caused flash flooding in many parts of Pierre into the early morning hours. Many roads were under 1 to 2 feet of water. Several homes in southeast Pierre received sewer backup. Also several homes on Grey Goose road received flood damage.
In late March, a berm was constructed around the east side of Blunt to control snowmelt flooding on the Medicine Creek and divert the water to an open field away from homes and businesses. Part of the creek backed up into town. A small part of U.S. Highway 83 flooded on March 28th along with other county roads.
A severe thunderstorm with large hail and damaging winds came out of Sully county and tracked southeast across Hughes county destroying thousands of acres of crop and pastureland along its path. Some property damage also resulted from the severe winds and large hail.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
17,664
Population (ACS)
$242K
Median home value
20
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 5, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Apr 5, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Apr 5, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Apr 5, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Apr 5, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Pierre 213
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Hughes County, South Dakota?
512 events are on record between 1955 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $3.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Hughes County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 256 recorded events — 50.0% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Hughes County?
15 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 15 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Hughes County?
20 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Hughes County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Hughes County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Hughes County as very low risk, placing it in the 16 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Hughes 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
- Harding County 749
- Hutchinson County 473
- Hanson County 244
- Hyde County 315
- Hand County 579
- Jackson County 701
Cite this page
“Hughes County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/hughes-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.