Jerauld County

Every recorded tornado

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

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 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. Jun 18, 2014Tornado$5.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado damaged at least 43 homes in Wessington Springs, making at least 26 of them uninhabitable. The tornado also destroyed at least 3 businesses and damaged 9 others. The tornado also caused considerable damage to power lines, power poles, and trees, resulting in power outages to the entire town. Vehicles and signs were also damaged. The damage included an estimated 1.2 million dollars in damage to public infrastructure. There were no reported fatalities and one minor injury. The tornado also caused an unknown amount of damage to corn and soybean crops.

2. Jun 24, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds damaged numerous structures. The roofs and siding of several homes were damaged, and the roof of a camping bath house was blown off. A picnic shelter and a baseball grandstand were destroyed, as were lumber yard structures. The brick wall of a high school was damaged. The storm overturned and heavily damaged a camper and a van. Several other vehicles were heavily damaged by tree or other debris, including at least two inside destroyed small garages. The walls of a church were damaged when moved slightly by the wind. There was widespread tree damage, including numerous trees blown down. Power lines were blown down, resulting in power outages. Several windows were broken.

3. Nov 27, 2005Ice Storm, Jerauld$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…

4. Jun 18, 2014Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado severely damaged two family farms, including destroying a farmhouse as the family took shelter in their basement. A couple in the house suffered minor injuries.The tornado also damaged trees, power poles, and power lines; and caused an unknown amount of crop damage. The tornado crossed briefly into Beadle County before lifting.

5. Mar 13, 2019Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

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

6. Jul 7, 1996Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A swath of hail 2 to 3 miles wide caused crop damage which was total in much of the area. The hail accumulated as much as a foot in places. The hail, which was accompanied by damaging winds, also broke windows and damaged vehicles.

7. Jul 7, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused damage to trees, farm buildings, power lines, and crops. Two barns were destroyed. Large trees were uprooted just south of Lane.

8. Nov 28, 2005Blizzard, Jerauld$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…

9. Jul 3, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Four large metal grain bins were destroyed by thunderstorm wind gusts, but each of the damaged bins were empty at the time.

10. Jul 30, 2010Flash Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rainfall, unofficially reported at up to 9.50 inches, caused widespread flooding of roads, fields, and basements. Several roads were washed out. Most houses in the town of Wessington Springs received water damage. several bridges were damaged.

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

111°F2 times, most recently Jul 16, 2006

All-time low

−39°FFeb 9, 1899

Warmest night

81°F3 times, most recently Jul 31, 2006

Coldest day

−20°FFeb 8, 1899

Wettest day

7.36 inJul 30, 2010

Snowiest day

15.6 inJan 30, 2001

Hottest year

1990mean 51.0°F

Coldest year

2019mean 42.2°F

Wettest year

201041.36 in

Driest year

189410.88 in

Snowiest season

84.0 in2000-01

Station Wessington Springs (USC00399070), 1,715 ft elevation, 1.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 23, 2026; 98.8% 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 USC00399070.
• 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.