252
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$10.5M
Property damage
Hail in Yankton County, South Dakota: 252 recorded events between 1956 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 2.75. That places the county #426 nationally and #21 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Hail in Yankton County, South Dakota: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for hail in Yankton County is the 2000s, when 131 of the county's 252 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 Yankton County archive, hail makes up 47.5% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #426 for this hazard and #21 within South Dakota, putting it in the 86.3 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for hail in Yankton County with 66 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.
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 2025 | JAMESVILLE | 1.75 | $0 |
| Jun 29, 2025 | LESTERVILLE | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 28, 2025 | UTICA | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 28, 2025 | YANKTON | 0.75 | $0 |
| Jun 16, 2025 | YANKTON | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 16, 2025 | YANKTON | 0.75 | $0 |
| Jun 16, 2025 | NAPA | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 16, 2025 | UTICA | 0.88 | $0 |
| Apr 18, 2025 | (YKN)CHAN GURNEY ARP | 1 | $0 |
| Aug 11, 2023 | LESTERVILLE | 1.75 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Yankton County
- Thunderstorm Wind 161
- Flood 69
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Large hail, accompanied in places by damaging winds, destroyed or severely damaged crops in an area up to 10 miles wide from northwestern to southeastern Yankton County. Estimates from the Farm Service Agency were at least 48 thousand acres of corn, soybean, and alfalfa crops that were affected, some of which were totally destroyed. The hail also broke windows in buildings and vehicles, severely dented and even punched holes in numerous vehicles, and damaged siding and roofs of buildings. Property damage was especially great in and near the cities of Yankton and Gayville. Most of about 200 skylights in a Wal-Mart store in Yankton were broken beyond repair. Some of the windows in vehicles were completely broken and removed by the hail.
Large hail up to golf ball size, driven by strong to damaging winds, caused widespread property and crop damage in and near Yankton. Numerous windows were broken, both in structures and in vehicles, roofs and siding were damaged in several homes and businesses, and trees were stripped. Corn and other crops in the area were heavily damaged, with crops totally stripped in some areas. The amount of crop damage could not yet be determined.
Large hail broke windows and severely damaged siding on at least two homes. The hail also severely damaged corn and soybean crops. The amount of crop damage could not be determined because the extent of crop recovery could not be known for a long time. However, some crops were severely enough damaged to require replanting.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many hail events are on record in Yankton County, South Dakota?
252 hail events are recorded in Yankton County between 1956 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest hail recorded in Yankton County?
The strongest hail on record in Yankton County measured 2.75.
Where does the hail data for Yankton 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
“Hail in Yankton County, South Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/south-dakota/yankton-county/hail/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.