Potter County, South Dakota severe weather history spans 309 recorded events between 1955 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 43.4% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,732 nationally and #54 in South Dakota.
309
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$2.9M
Property damage
The record
What the Potter County, South Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Potter County, South Dakota severe weather history averages 4.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 82 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 55 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 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 Potter County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 134 | 0 | $7K | 3 | 1960–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 133 | 0 | $5K | 87 | 1956–2026 |
| Tornado | 20 | 0 | $2.6M | F2 | 1955–2011 |
| Flash Flood | 9 | 0 | $14K | 0 | 1999–2018 |
| Flood | 8 | 0 | $260K | 0 | 2011–2023 |
| Funnel Cloud | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2007–2025 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2001–2001 |
Decade by decade
Potter 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
19 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-07-18 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1970-07-18 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1964-06-18 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 24.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1955-04-19 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 10.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 1955-04-19 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 18.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1981-08-03 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1981-08-03 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1979-06-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1966-06-22 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1966-06-22 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Large hail destroyed six wquare miles of winter wheat and corn in northwest Potter County. On a farm in northwest Potter County, many house and farm building windows were broken. The windshields on two vehicles were also shattered from the large hail.
A severe thunderstorm with large hail and destructive winds left southeast Dewey crossing the Missouri River into western Potter county continuing to destroy crop and grassland in its path. The storm continued to move southeast entering northern Sully county.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
2,388
Population (ACS)
$121K
Median home value
41
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 6, 2023 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
| Feb 27, 2023 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND SNOWSTORM | 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 |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Potter County, South Dakota?
309 events are on record between 1955 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths and $2.9M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Potter County?
Hail, with 134 recorded events — 43.4% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Potter County?
19 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 18 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Potter County?
41 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Potter County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Potter County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Potter County as very low risk, placing it in the 10 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Potter 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
- Perkins County 727
- Roberts County 341
- Pennington County 2,406
- Sanborn County 323
- Oglala Lakota County 676
- Moody County 323
Cite this page
“Potter County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/potter-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.