Todd County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 27, 2025Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down 2 miles SE of Spring Creek just south of|BIA route #30 and remained over open field. The tornado tracked to|the east-northeast where it destroyed an outbuilding that was|built with heavy wood and anchored to a cement slab. The|outbuilding contents where thrown some 50yds to east up a hill.|The tornado crossed BIA route #30 where it strengthened,|destroying a single wide mobile home. The undercarriage of the|mobile home was tossed and crumpled 100yds from its foundation.|All walls where completely destroyed and the contents of the home|were thrown to the north to northeast. The tornado then moved |back into mostly open terrain before encountering some trees…

2. Jun 8, 2004Lightning$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms moved across northeastern parts of Todd County and central Tripp County, producing hail to the size of golf balls and heavy rains. Rainfall totals of 3 to 5 inches were common across these areas, with Okreek and Witten receiving around 8 inches of rain during the evening. Water in creeks across the area rose to bank full with many roads washed out or under water during the overnight. Lightning also struck the Okreek Community Center, completely destroying the building.

3. Aug 15, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A roof was completely blown off a mobile home, causing the walls to collapse. A roof on a stick-built house was partially torn off and most of the shingles were missing. The door was blown off another mobile home. 9 large power transmission poles were broken.

4. Mar 22, 2019Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Runoff from melting snow, combined with frozen culverts, caused flooding which covered numerous roads. Several areas of high water were reported by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, including 285th Street east of Prairie Hills and BIA 7 near Parmalee. Flooding along the Little White River and its tributaries covered several sections of BIA 5.

5. Mar 23, 2019Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   During the early morning of March 23, Hidden Timber Dam along Antelope Creek failed, most likely from being overtopped by the excessive runoff from melted snow on frozen ground. As the water made its way downstream, it flooded several roads along Antelope Creek and the Keya Paha River.

6. Mar 30, 2009Blizzard, Todd$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The second blizzard in a week brought heavy snow and strong winds to the western South Dakota plains. Northwest wind gusts to 50 mph produced significant blowing and drifting snow, reducing visibilities to near zero for many hours. Reports of six to 12 inches of snow were common, with higher amounts across northwestern South Dakota. Interstate 90 and many other highways were closed for a considerable period of time. More livestock losses occurred during the peak of calving and lambing season.

7. Jul 13, 2009Hail$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Baseball to softball sized damaged buildings and automobiles in Rosebud.

8. Jun 8, 2004Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms moved across northeastern parts of Todd County and central Tripp County, producing hail to the size of golf balls and heavy rains. Rainfall totals of 3 to 5 inches were common across these areas, with Okreek and Witten receiving around 8 inches of rain during the evening. Water in creeks across the area rose to bank full with many roads washed out or under water during the overnight. Lightning also struck the Okreek Community Center, completely destroying the building.

9. Mar 18, 2012Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail to the size of softballs fell at Rosebud Casino, producing damage to the building and vehicles.

10. May 22, 2019Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A few roads were flooded near the Keya Paha River, Little White River, and smaller tributaries of these rivers.

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

114°FJul 24, 2007

All-time low

−31°FDec 22, 1990

Warmest night

78°FAug 2, 1955

Coldest day

−19°FFeb 3, 1989

Wettest day

4.30 inAug 4, 2007

Snowiest day

20.0 inApr 18, 1995

Hottest year

2012mean 50.5°F

Coldest year

1996mean 43.3°F

Wettest year

202334.04 in

Driest year

197611.37 in

Snowiest season

85.0 in1952-53

Station Mission 14 S (USC00395638), 2,810 ft elevation, 12.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1951 to October 20, 2026; 99.2% 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 USC00395638.
• 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.