Brule County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Brule 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. Nov 27, 2005Ice Storm, Brule$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…

2. Jun 20, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds severely damaged a large greenhouse and produce inside the greenhouse. The winds also blew down several large trees.

3. Jun 24, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including some trees blown down. The winds also damaged signs, fences and roofs, and blew many loose items around.

4. Jun 20, 2024Flood$259,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall amounts across Brule County from June 20-22 ranged from 4 to 11 inches. Widespread overland flooding ensued. ||Two homes were damaged by flood waters - one in the city of Chamberlain and the other in the countryside near Healy Dam. Numerous county roads were closed and damaged by flood waters. In addition, three small private dams washed out, including Pazour, Sharping, and Healy Dams. Silt from behind Healy Dam washed downstream and resulted in some damage to American Creek Marina along the Missouri River. Preliminary damage assessments estimate loss to public infrastructure across the county at nearly 259 thousand dollars.

5. Sep 12, 2019Flood$224,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Red Lake expanded enough to flood cattle feed lots, which then contributed to an outbreak of Avian Botulism due to the contaminated water. Flooding resulted in crop losses and damage to public infrastructure including county and township roads, culverts, and some bridges. The property damage costs include estimates for public property losses. Crop loss estimates provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.

6. Jul 21, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds blew down tree branches and limbs, causing damage to vehicles including one roof caved in, several broken windows, and numerous scratches. The winds also blew down power lines and destroyed several storage sheds.

7. Jul 21, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage and some resulting vehicle damage from the debris. Some trees were uprooted...one of which damaged a wall and window of a house. A few storage buildings were destroyed and some power lines were blown down.

8. Mar 13, 2019Flood$140,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding resulted in damage to public infrastructure including numerous county and township roads and culverts.

9. Aug 6, 2002Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail, driven by strong winds, broke windows in a hospital and other buildings, and also in numerous vehicles. The hail also stripped corn crops in the area. The amount of crop damage was not known.

10. Nov 28, 2005Blizzard, Brule$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Snowfall varying from 4 to 15 inches combined with winds gusting over 50 mph to produce blizzard conditions. The heaviest snowfalls were mostly near and west of the James River, in the area where a severe ice storm immediately preceded the blizzard. Several reports of 6 to 8 foot drifts were received from this area. Visibilities were lowered frequently to zero and travel was made impossible in many areas. Roads, including Interstate Highways 90 and 29 were closed for extended periods of time. Most schools and businesses that were not already closed because of the ice storm were forced to close. The winds during the blizzard continued to bring down power lines and poles, most of…

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

113°FJul 26, 2003

All-time low

−34°FFeb 9, 1994

Warmest night

82°F2 times, most recently Jul 31, 2006

Coldest day

−17°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

7.39 inJun 21, 2024

Snowiest day

13.0 in2 times, most recently Mar 31, 2009

Hottest year

2012mean 50.7°F

Coldest year

2009mean 42.9°F

Wettest year

201938.95 in

Driest year

201214.66 in

Snowiest season

72.9 in2000-01

Station Chamberlain 5 S (USC00391621), 1,704 ft elevation, 6.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1980 to October 1, 2026; 98.1% 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 USC00391621.
• 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.