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Brown County, SD hail & severe wind history
400 storm reports on file for Brown County between 2010-04-12 and 2026-06-29 — 181 hail and 219 severe thunderstorm wind. That averages 23.5 reports a year, and Jun is the busiest month.
At a glance
- Most recent hail report: Jun 29, 2026 — 1" (quarter), 0 mi N of Groton.
- Hail was reported on 64 days since 2010 — about 3.8 hail days a year.
- Largest hail on record: 4.25" (grapefruit) on Jul 17, 2010.
- Brown County has more hail reports than 88% of the 66 South Dakota counties we cover.
Search every Brown County report
Check a single date first, or filter the full record below — pick a year, narrow to a month, or drag the hail-size slider to see only the larger stones (1", quarter size, is the National Weather Service severe threshold).
Loading Brown County storm reports…
Worst storm days in Brown County
| Date | Reports that day | Largest hail | Peak gust |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-06-07 | 23 | — | 90 mph |
| 2010-07-17 | 13 | 4.25" (grapefruit) | — |
| 2013-07-09 | 13 | 2.75" (baseball) | — |
| 2021-08-22 | 12 | 1.25" (half dollar) | 90 mph |
| 2015-06-21 | 11 | 2.75" (baseball) | 64 mph |
| 2013-09-18 | 11 | 2" (hen egg) | 64 mph |
| 2017-06-13 | 10 | 1" (quarter) | 71 mph |
| 2026-06-09 | 10 | — | 78 mph |
| 2017-07-05 | 9 | 1.75" (golf ball) | 81 mph |
| 2022-08-05 | 9 | 1.5" (ping pong ball) | 70 mph |
Reports by year
Report counts are driven partly by how many people were around to report a storm, so recent years tend to look busier than the early 2010s. Treat the trend as a reporting trend, not purely a weather trend.
Notable large-hail events (2" and up)
| Date | Size | Near | What was reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-06-02 | 2.75" baseball | 2.81 mi N of Barnard | No narrative filed |
| 2021-08-28 | 2.75" baseball | 8.35 mi W of Rudolph | A satellite depicted hail swath from a severe thunderstorm in Edmunds County continued into southern Brown County. The storm continued to the east across southern Brown County into western Day county. Hail up to baseball size occurred with this storm which caused substantial crop losses according to satellite imagery… |
| 2021-08-28 | 2.75" baseball | 2.45 mi NNE of Randolph | A satellite depicted hail swath from a severe thunderstorm from Edmunds county continued across southern Brown County and then to the east northeast into Day County. Hail size was up to baseball along the storm's path. The scar dimensions covered approximately 120 square miles in Brown County. |
| 2021-08-28 | 2.75" baseball | 2.45 mi SSE of Ferney | No narrative filed |
| 2020-08-23 | 4" grapefruit | 7.72 mi W of Winship | No narrative filed |
| 2015-07-05 | 2" hen egg | 1.45 mi W of (Abr)Aberdeen Rgnl A | No narrative filed |
| 2015-06-21 | 2.75" baseball | 1.69 mi NE of Richmond | No narrative filed |
| 2013-09-18 | 2" hen egg | 7.28 mi WNW of Hecla | Large hail caused some minor crop damage. |
When does hail hit Brown County?
Across 17 years of records, June produced the most reports (131), followed by the months either side of it. Monthly totals:
| Month | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | 0.0% |
| February | 0 | 0.0% |
| March | 0 | 0.0% |
| April | 13 | 3.3% |
| May | 28 | 7.0% |
| June | 131 | 32.8% |
| July | 118 | 29.5% |
| August | 88 | 22.0% |
| September | 22 | 5.5% |
| October | 0 | 0.0% |
| November | 0 | 0.0% |
| December | 0 | 0.0% |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a border with Brown County (U.S. Census county adjacency), where we have storm records:
| County | Storm reports | Largest hail |
|---|---|---|
| Edmunds County, SD | 225 | 2.75" |
| Spink County, SD | 207 | 4" |
| McPherson County, SD | 184 | 2.75" |
| Day County, SD | 176 | 2.5" |
| Marshall County, SD | 151 | 3" |
| Faulk County, SD | 121 | 3.5" |
See all 66 South Dakota counties →
Common questions about hail in Brown County
- How often does it hail in Brown County?
- Hail was reported on 64 separate days between 2010 and 2026, about 3.8 days a year, with June the busiest month for storm reports. 161 reports were quarter size (1") or larger.
- Does a report here mean hail hit my street?
- Not necessarily. Each report is one observation tied to a nearby landmark, and a county can be large. Storms also go unreported where few people live. Use the date check above to see what was reported nearby, and treat it as a starting point.
- How big is a 1.75" hailstone?
- Forecasters describe hail by everyday objects: 1" is a quarter, 1.75" a golf ball, 2.75" a baseball. The sizes in these reports are estimates made by the person reporting, not lab measurements.
- Where do I get the official record?
- All reports here come from the NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, which you can search directly. For anything formal, use NOAA’s own records rather than this page.
Look up another place
About these numbers
Every row above is a report filed with the National Weather Service and archived in the NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (FIPS 46013). Reports are eyewitness, trained-spotter and damage-survey observations, so they cluster near roads and towns and miss storms over empty country. Hail sizes are estimates. Damage figures are preliminary as filed and are never revised in this archive. Use this page for background, not for an insurance claim, a legal filing, or a roof assessment — for those, get the official record from NOAA directly.