Beadle County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Beadle County: 0.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 24, 2006Tornado$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado, entering Beadle County from Hand County to the west, destroyed 8 houses, damaged at least 7 other houses, and destroyed or damaged numerous farm buildings. One of the destroyed houses and several destroyed small buildings were on a farmstead 2 miles south of Wessington, and five large high voltage transmission towers were blown down about 3 miles southeast of Wessington. A woman was cut on the neck at one farm southwest of Wolsey where the house and all other buildings were destroyed; the injury was not life threatening. The tornado tossed a car and 2 pickups up to 50 feet at the same farm. Another non life threatening injury occurred southeast of Wolsey, again on a…

2. Aug 24, 2006Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado severely damaged 3 houses and destroyed or damaged a barn and several smaller buildings on farmsteads. The tornado knocked down power poles, with a transformer on one of the poles starting a brief fire. A tree shelter belt and crops were damaged. The amount of crop damage was not known.

3. Apr 1, 2011Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flooding of the James River, as well as flooding of small streams and lakes in the county, continued through April. Much farmland remained flooded, both near to and away from the James River. The James River was 7.3 feet above flood stage at Huron on April 1st, and fell very slowly during the month. Over 50 miles of roads remained closed by the flooding at the start of the month, including South Dakota Highway 28 in the eastern part of the county. Water was running over other roads, from flooded streams, creeks, and fields as well as from the James River. Many roads were heavily damaged. The damage to township and county roads alone was estimated near the end of April at 1.7…

4. Jun 24, 2003Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado destroyed farm buildings and numerous trees, resulting in F3 damage southwest of Cavour. Homes and businesses within the town of Cavour were severely damaged (F2). Winds of 120 mph were measured by an anemometer on top of a grain elevator in Cavour.

5. Nov 27, 2005Ice Storm, Beadle$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy freezing rain coated roads, trees, power lines, and most other objects with ice up to 3 inches thick. Travel quickly became difficult to impossible. Many roads including Interstate Highways 90 and 29 were closed for extended periods of time. Most schools and businesses were forced to close. Electric power was lost over widespread areas when many miles of power lines and thousands of poles were knocked down, with more damaged. Strong winds which accompanied the ice storm and the immediately following blizzard combined with the weight of the ice to bring down many of the power lines and poles. Tens of thousands of households and businesses lost power, with the time power was…

6. Aug 28, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds destroyed a car wash, blew the roof off a recreation center and bowling alley with resulting damage to the inside, and damaged an apartment building and former restaurant. The winds also caused tree damage, including large trees blown down, and blew down power poles and lines.

7. Aug 24, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused widespread tree, power line, and structural damage. An empty 170,000 bushel grain bin was demolished, siding and shingles from houses were blown off, and trees and power lines were damaged in most of Huron. In Cavour, the top of a barn was blown onto and damaged a combine, and a hog barn and machine shed were damaged. At least two semi tractor trailers were blown over.

8. May 5, 2007Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall caused flooding of low areas including fields, homes, businesses, schools, roads, streams, and bridges. The flooding was a longer term event than flash flooding, which had also resulted. Long term major flooding of the James River also resulted, with the river peaking at 6.7 feet above flood stage at Huron on May 7th. Numerous parks and other recreation areas were affected, especially in the Huron area. Some roads and bridges were washed out by the high water. The flooding delayed planting of crops in some areas.

9. Aug 1, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous power lines, several poles, and caused widespread tree damage. Several roads were blocked by large limbs and other debris. The winds also blew the roof off a mobile home, destroyed a small storage building, and damaged other small structures. Numerous vehicles and some homes were damaged by tree debris.

10. Jun 21, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorm winds peeled off an apartment roof, damaging contents inside with water and wind, and displacing the residents of ten units. The winds also caused extensive tree and power line damage, some roof damage, and blew over two nearby semi trucks. Signs were also blown over.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

112°FJul 10, 1966

All-time low

−43°F2 times, most recently Jan 12, 1912

Warmest night

82°FJul 11, 1936

Coldest day

−21°FJan 14, 1888

Wettest day

5.31 inJun 18, 1967

Snowiest day

19.0 inMar 14, 2002

Hottest year

1931mean 50.1°F

Coldest year

1883mean 41.4°F

Wettest year

201937.30 in

Driest year

19529.72 in

Snowiest season

89.6 in2000-01

Station Huron Regional Airport (USW00014936), 1,282 ft elevation, 0.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1881 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

Neighbouring counties

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00014936.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.