Custer County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Custer 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.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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 17, 2007Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain estimated at four to six inches fell west of Hermosa between 6 pm and 8 pm MST. Battle and Grace Coolidge Creeks overflowed their banks and several dry canyons filled with water and drained into the creeks. State highways 40 and 36 were flooded in numerous spots. A river gauge on Battle Creek just east of Hermosa crested at 14.91 feet at 9 pm, rising from 2.63 ft at 7:30 pm and above the flood stage of 8.0 feet. About six inches of water covered Highway 79 at the Battle Creek bridge. A railroad bridge about 3/4 mile downstream became clogged with debris and water rose behind the embankment and flooded six homes. At about 8:30 pm MST, a section of the embankment failed,…

2. Sep 4, 2013Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm became severe over the Custer area and produced 1.5 to two inch diameter hail, causing widespread damage to property.

3. Apr 18, 2000Blizzard, Central Black Hills$1.5 million
4. Aug 2, 2019Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant flooding occurred on French Creek from the Custer Limestone area downstream to Stockade Lake, including the City of Custer. Several smaller tributaries into French Creek, including Ruby Creek, also flooded. Flash flooding inundated Custer Limestone Road just east of the intersection of Forest Service 284 and Forest Service 285, French Creek Road at Hoover Court, Highway 16, Highway 16A, Highway 89, Custer Street, South 4th Street, French Creek Drive, Gordon Street, 7th Street, 8th Street, Washington Street, Sidney Park, Granite Valley Drive, and Iron Creek Road. Several homes and businesses were also flooded.

5. Aug 1, 2001Lightning$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two large lightning fires ignited on July 30 and continued until Aug 8. The two fires grew until they were only a few miles apart in Custer County. No injuries were reported, however 26,800 total acres burned with these two fires. One historic cabin, seven out buildings, and one seasonal residence were destroyed. 1000 people fought this fire. During the week-long fire, over 173 hours of flight time were logged among numerous aircraft. 400,000 gallons of water was dropped from aircraft along with 357,000 gallons of fire retardant.

6. Apr 18, 2006Winter Storm, Central Black Hills$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major spring storm moved across the Central and Northern Plains, bringing significant amounts of rain and snow and gusty winds to much of western South Dakota. Snowfall was heaviest across the northern and central Black Hills, as well as far northwest South Dakota, where 1 to 2 feet fell. Favored upslope areas of the northern Black Hills received 2 to 5 feet of snow. Strong northwest winds gusting to 60 mph, created blizzard conditions across Harding, Butte, and Lawrence counties. Drifts to 15 feet high were reported across Harding and Butte counties. Power poles and trees were downed by the combination of heavy wet snow and wind, which resulted in widespread and prolonged power…

7. Jul 8, 2013Hail$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail damaged some homes and vehicles near Hermosa.

8. Aug 7, 2011Hail$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A supercell thunderstorm developed near Nemo and moved southeastward across the Rapid City area and into southwestern South Dakota. The storm produced large hail and eventually strong wind gusts as it moved across southwestern South Dakota.

9. Oct 26, 1996Winter Storm, Central Black Hills$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A winter storm with heavy snow and gusty northwest winds created blizzard-like conditions over western South Dakota. The heaviest snow fell in the central and northern Black Hills where one to two feet was common. Lead received 38.9 inches, setting an all-time state record for 24 hour snowfall. Winds frequently gusted over 45 mph, reducing visibility to zero and creating drifts several feet deep. Many roads in the Lead-Deadwood area were blocked for over 24 hours. The wet heavy snow downed numerus power lines and poles. Electric service to some rural areas was out for five days. Damage to power lines and poles in western South Dakota was estimated near $600,000.

10. Jul 7, 2011Hail$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Hail to golf ball size damaged automobiles and caused other minor damage in Custer.

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

100°FJul 12, 1954

All-time low

−43°FJan 19, 1963

Warmest night

74°FJul 1, 1990

Coldest day

−19°F3 times, most recently Jan 14, 2024

Wettest day

4.03 inMay 22, 1952

Snowiest day

24.0 inApr 19, 2000

Hottest year

2012mean 47.1°F

Coldest year

1964mean 39.8°F

Wettest year

192327.76 in

Driest year

19169.27 in

Snowiest season

92.5 in1955-56

Station Custer (USC00392087), 5,480 ft elevation, 5.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1942 to September 21, 2026; 92.0% 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 USC00392087.
• 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.