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Buffalo County, SD hail & severe wind history
72 storm reports on file for Buffalo County between 2010-05-24 and 2025-08-16 — 30 hail and 42 severe thunderstorm wind. That averages 4.5 reports a year, and Jul is the busiest month.
At a glance
- Most recent hail report: Jul 15, 2025 — 1" (quarter), 2.84 mi WNW of Shelby.
- Hail was reported on 19 days since 2010 — about 1.3 hail days a year.
- Largest hail on record: 1.75" (golf ball) on Apr 22, 2022.
- Buffalo County has more hail reports than 6% of the 66 South Dakota counties we cover.
Search every Buffalo 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 Buffalo County storm reports…
Worst storm days in Buffalo County
| Date | Reports that day | Largest hail | Peak gust |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-09-04 | 4 | 1" (quarter) | — |
| 2023-06-24 | 4 | — | 72 mph |
| 2010-05-24 | 3 | 1.75" (golf ball) | — |
| 2022-07-05 | 3 | — | 60 mph |
| 2020-07-05 | 3 | — | 72 mph |
| 2015-06-20 | 3 | — | 100 mph |
| 2012-06-13 | 2 | 1.75" (golf ball) | — |
| 2012-07-20 | 2 | 1.5" (ping pong ball) | — |
| 2012-07-12 | 2 | 1.25" (half dollar) | — |
| 2010-05-31 | 2 | 1.25" (half dollar) | — |
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.
When does hail hit Buffalo County?
Across 15 years of records, July produced the most reports (28), 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 | 1 | 1.4% |
| May | 6 | 8.3% |
| June | 23 | 31.9% |
| July | 28 | 38.9% |
| August | 10 | 13.9% |
| September | 4 | 5.6% |
| October | 0 | 0.0% |
| November | 0 | 0.0% |
| December | 0 | 0.0% |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a border with Buffalo County (U.S. Census county adjacency), where we have storm records:
| County | Storm reports | Largest hail |
|---|---|---|
| Lyman County, SD | 334 | 8" |
| Hand County, SD | 251 | 2.75" |
| Brule County, SD | 152 | 3" |
| Hyde County, SD | 145 | 2.75" |
| Jerauld County, SD | 82 | 2.25" |
See all 66 South Dakota counties →
Common questions about hail in Buffalo County
- How often does it hail in Buffalo County?
- Hail was reported on 19 separate days between 2010 and 2025, about 1.3 days a year, with July the busiest month for storm reports. 24 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 46017). 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.