NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Elk Point, SD
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Elk Point, South Dakota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 105 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 105
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Elk Point
The highest rating among the 105 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on June 23, 2003, came within 23 miles. Of the 105, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 35 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 42. The most recent tornado was on April 16, 2024. Elk Point has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 78% of the 61 South Dakota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 109 times since 1955, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Elk Point has more hail reports within 10 miles than 50% of the 61 South Dakota cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Elk Point
By decade
- 2020s2
- 2010s13
- 2000s20(1 EF3+)
- 1990s17
- 1980s20(1 EF3+)
- 1970s12
- 1960s16(5 EF3+)
- 1950s5
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 23, 2003 | F4 | 23 mi | 13 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Jul 28, 1986 | F4 | 12 mi | 52.5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 14, 1967 | F3 | 8 mi | 6.2 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 7, 1965 | F3 | 22 mi | 11.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 7, 1965 | F3 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 1964 | F3 | 20 mi | 67 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 21, 1962 | F3 | 21 mi | 71.7 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 30, 1959 | F2 | 23 mi | 26.8 mi | 1 / 2 |
| Jun 17, 2014 | EF2 | 24 mi | 5.31 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 2014 | EF2 | 25 mi | 0.94 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 17, 2001 | F2 | 20 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 28, 1998 | F2 | 21 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 105, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Elk Point
The Storm Prediction Center has 109 hail reports within 10 miles of Elk Point since 1955, made on 66 separate days. Of these, 65 were 1 inch across or larger, and 6 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on August 5, 1960. The most recent report is from June 14, 2025. May has the most reports, 37.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Elk Point
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Vermillion 2 SE, SD, 12 miles west of Elk Point at 1,137 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 31°F and 10°F. June is the wettest at 4.3 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 28.1 inches over 54 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 29 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 152 nights a year. That 28.1 inches is more than at 37 of the 43 South Dakota stations used on this site (86%). Akron, IA, 12 miles northeast, has its own station (Hawarden, IA): 30.0 inches a year, 1.9 more than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31 | 10 | 0.5 | 2 |
| Feb | 36 | 14 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Mar | 48 | 25 | 1.4 | 4 |
| Apr | 62 | 36 | 3.1 | 6 |
| May | 73 | 48 | 4.0 | 8 |
| Jun | 82 | 59 | 4.3 | 7 |
| Jul | 86 | 63 | 3.6 | 6 |
| Aug | 83 | 61 | 2.9 | 5 |
| Sep | 78 | 52 | 3.1 | 5 |
| Oct | 65 | 39 | 2.4 | 5 |
| Nov | 48 | 25 | 1.3 | 3 |
| Dec | 34 | 15 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Year | 60 | 37 | 28.1 | 54 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Vermillion 2 SE, SD (1,137 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Elk Point
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 158 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Elk Point: 90 floods, 65 thunderstorm wind reports and 3 flash floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $101.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on June 11, 2010.
June 21, 2024: flood 5 miles from the centre of Elk Point — $54.5 million damage.
NWS: “Rainfall amounts across Union County from June 20-22 ranged from around a third of an inch across southern areas to 1 to 2 inches across northern areas.”
June 1, 2019: flood 6 miles from the centre of Elk Point — $26.4 million damage.
NWS: “During crop planting season, prolonged flooding led to the loss of or inability to plant crops across the area. Crop loss estimates provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Elk Point's ZIP code 57025 have filed 14 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1993, and were paid $488,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 36% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 28 South Dakota cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 5 have fewer than Elk Point.
Union County, which includes Elk Point, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 16 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 6 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 coastal storm). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding, on August 15, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Union County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and hail; Relatively Low for inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Very Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $16.3 million a year, the 14th highest of 66 South Dakota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $8.5 million (52%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 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).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets 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).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Elk Point
- Akron, IA12 mi
- Vermillion, SD14 mi
- Dakota Dunes, SD17 mi
- Sioux City, IA22 mi
- Hawarden, IA22 mi
- South Sioux City, NE23 mi
- Beresford, SD24 mi
- Hinton, IA25 mi
- Dakota City, NE25 mi
- Le Mars, IA27 mi
- Hartington, NE29 mi
- Sergeant Bluff, IA30 mi
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