Hughes County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Hughes 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. Apr 1, 2019Flood$185,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The continuation of snowmelt from a much above normal snowfall winter combined with a historic heavy snow/blizzard in mid-April resulted in widespread flooding across central and northeast South Dakota. Countless roads along with thousands of acres of cropland were flooded throughout April. Impacts include damaged roads, culverts, and bridges, and livestock, homes, and businesses were affected. Delayed planting resulted across all of the region as well. Cattle and calves were stressed by the cold and wet pattern, as the mud and cold caused some sickness with the livestock. Flooded roads made it difficult for many farmers or ranchers to get to their fields or livestock. There was a…

2. Sep 2, 1999Flash Flood$175,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very heavy rains from thunderstorms repeatedly going over the same area resulted in extensive flash flooding in a 30 to 40 mile wide band from Fort Pierre in southeast Stanley County to Hecla in northeast Brown County. Rainfall amounts in this corridor ranged from 3 to 7 inches. As a result, the communities of Blunt in Hughes County and Onida in Sully county were severely flooded. Most of the homes and businesses were flooded throughout Blunt and Onida causing severe damage. Only a few homes in these communities were spared from receiving water in there basements. Most homes also experienced sewer backup. The sewer systems in both Onida and Blunt were flooded and shutdown. Many…

3. Jun 2, 2008Flash Flood$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very heavy rain of over 3 inches caused flash flooding in many parts of Pierre into the early morning hours. Many roads were under 1 to 2 feet of water. Several homes in southeast Pierre received sewer backup. Also several homes on Grey Goose road received flood damage.

4. Jun 5, 2008Lightning$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a barn northeast of Pierre and started it on fire. The barn burned to the ground as twenty-five firefighters battled the blaze from the early afternoon into the evening hours. The fire also destroyed a four-wheeler and two trailers.

5. Jun 2, 2008Flash Flood$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very heavy rains of 2 to 4 inches caused flash flooding throughout much of Hughes county. Many roads and crops were damaged by the high water.

6. Aug 18, 2009Flash Flood$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several county and township roads between Blunt and Harrold were overrun with water flowing out of nearby fields.

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

117°FJul 15, 2006

All-time low

−35°FFeb 9, 1994

Warmest night

85°F2 times, most recently Jul 24, 1936

Coldest day

−18°FDec 21, 1989

Wettest day

4.00 inJul 25, 1984

Snowiest day

18.0 inMar 27, 1975

Hottest year

1934mean 52.3°F

Coldest year

1950mean 42.1°F

Wettest year

199731.85 in

Driest year

19767.12 in

Snowiest season

82.0 in1951-52

Station Pierre Regional Airport (USW00024025), 1,719 ft elevation, 0.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1933 to October 26, 2026; 99.8% 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 USW00024025.
• 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.