199
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
7
Direct injuries
$5.1M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Stanley County, South Dakota: 199 recorded events between 1965 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 106. That places the county #1,047 nationally and #20 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Stanley County, South Dakota: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Stanley County is the 2010s, when 79 of the county's 199 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 Stanley County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 46.4% of all recorded severe weather across 6 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #1,047 for this hazard and #20 within South Dakota, putting it in the 66.7 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Stanley County with 73 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 25, 1986 | 0 | 0 | 3 | $0 | |
| Jul 11, 1987 | 54 | 0 | 2 | $0 | |
| Jun 22, 2015 | HAYES | 106 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 14, 1995 | Pierre | 70 | 0 | 1 | $40K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 15, 2025 | BUNKER | 56 | $0 |
| Aug 22, 2024 | HAYES HAMILTON ARPT | 56 | $0 |
| Jul 14, 2024 | FT PIERRE | 70 | $0 |
| Jul 14, 2024 | FT PIERRE | 70 | $0 |
| Jul 14, 2024 | FT PIERRE | 70 | $0 |
| Jul 14, 2024 | LACY | 79 | $0 |
| Jul 14, 2024 | BUNKER | 71 | $0 |
| Jul 14, 2024 | LACY | 72 | $0 |
| Jul 14, 2024 | BUNKER | 65 | $0 |
| Jul 14, 2024 | HAYES HAMILTON ARPT | 95 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Stanley County
- Hail 183
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Widespread wind damage included cars piled into buildings at Fort Pierre, highway signs torn off, billboards uprooted, a hole in the roof of Pierre City Hall from falling tree branches, numerous downed power lines and poles, a roof blown off a business in Onida, roofs on many dwellings damaged, many trees blown down including some large ones, many broken tree branches and limbs littering and blocking roads, trees stripped of leaves, crops damaged or destroyed over large areas, and several small farm buildings destroyed. Heavy rain of 2 to 6 inches in the Pierre and Forth Pierre areas flooded roads and basements and added to the crop damage.
Eighty mph winds destroyed two mobile homes parked in the Chantier Heights Development 15 miles northwest of Pierre on South Dakota Highway 1806. A 77-year-old woman was injured when her mobile home parked on a bluff overlooking Lake Oahe partially rolled down the bluff, toward the lake. The woman received, minor injuries.
Eighty mph winds were responsible for damaging two sailboats at Spring Creek. The high winds also blew the middle section off the roof of the lodge, ripped apart two sheds and the top of a picnic shelter, destroyed a pop-up camper, and a 29-foot camper trailer was tipped onto its side. A garage was also lifted off the ground and its walls buckled before settling back down.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Stanley County, South Dakota?
199 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Stanley County between 1965 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Stanley County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Stanley County measured 106.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Stanley 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 Stanley County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/stanley-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.