Hail in South Dakota — where it hits, county by county
Hail is a fact of life on South Dakota ground — 830 National Weather Service hail reports in the last 5 years, led by Pennington County, peaking around July. The table below ranks the counties; the interactive national map shows exactly where, year by year. Checking a specific address? The map’s search box pulls every dated report within 25 miles.
Open the interactive map on South Dakota →Top hail counties in South Dakota (2022–2026)
| County | Reports | Avg/yr | Peak month | % damaging (≥1.5″) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennington | 230 | 46.0 | Jul | 26% |
| Custer | 92 | 18.4 | Jul | 29% |
| Meade | 79 | 15.8 | Jun | 34% |
| PENNINGTON | 77 | 15.4 | May | 29% |
| Oglala Lakota | 52 | 10.4 | Jun | 46% |
| Lawrence | 50 | 10.0 | Jun | 24% |
| MEADE | 48 | 9.6 | Jun | 29% |
| Fall River | 46 | 9.2 | Jul | 28% |
| MINNEHAHA | 41 | 8.2 | May | 27% |
| Harding | 40 | 8.0 | Jun | 60% |
| Minnehaha | 40 | 8.0 | Jul | 5% |
| Todd | 35 | 7.0 | Jul | 54% |
South Dakota hail — the questions people ask
Where does it hail the most in South Dakota?
By reported hail over the last 5 years, the most active counties in South Dakota are Pennington, Custer, Meade. Reports track population and spotter coverage as well as storms, so rural corridors can be under-counted; the persistent leaders on this table are real hail geography.
When is hail season in South Dakota?
Reported hail in South Dakota peaks around July, with most activity in the spring-through-midsummer window. Any single year can break the pattern.
How much of South Dakota's hail is damaging?
On this page, damaging means reported stones of 1.5″ or larger — the size that reliably dents roofs and vehicles and strips crops. The per-county damaging share is in the table; statewide, hail of any size totaled 830 reports over 5 years.