NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Madison, 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 Madison, South Dakota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 99 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 9 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 99
- EF3 or stronger
- 9
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Madison
The highest rating among the 99 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on June 7, 1993, came within 16 miles. Of the 99, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 27 have come since 2000. May and June have had the most tornadoes, 35 each. The most recent tornado was on May 30, 2022. Madison has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 73% of the 61 South Dakota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 97 times since 1958, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Of the 61 South Dakota cities, 51% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Madison.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Madison
By decade
- 2020s5
- 2010s7
- 2000s15
- 1990s22(8 EF3+)
- 1980s15
- 1970s12(1 EF3+)
- 1960s19
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 7, 1993 | F4 | 5 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Jun 7, 1993 | F4 | 16 mi | 54 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Jun 7, 1993 | F3 | 8 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 7, 1993 | F3 | 11 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 7, 1993 | F3 | 9 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 7, 1993 | F3 | 21 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F3 | 23 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F3 | 19 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 15, 1970 | F3 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 2014 | EF2 | 25 mi | 3.37 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 2007 | EF2 | 24 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 16, 2006 | F2 | 22 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 99, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Madison
The Storm Prediction Center has 97 hail reports within 10 miles of Madison since 1958, made on 55 separate days. Of these, 63 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on July 11, 2000. The most recent report is from April 26, 2024. June has the most reports, 26.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Madison
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Madison 2SE, SD, 2 miles east of Madison at 1,643 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 24°F and 5°F. June is the wettest at 4.2 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 26.4 inches over 51 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 12 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 170 nights a year. Snowfall averages 36.8 inches a year, most of it in February. That 26.4 inches is more than at 31 of the 43 South Dakota stations used on this site (72%). Volga, 22 miles northeast, has its own station (Brookings 2 NE, SD): 25.3 inches a year, 1.1 less than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24 | 5 | 0.5 | 1 | 5.6 |
| Feb | 29 | 10 | 0.7 | 2 | 8.4 |
| Mar | 41 | 22 | 1.0 | 3 | 5.0 |
| Apr | 56 | 33 | 2.7 | 6 | 4.2 |
| May | 68 | 46 | 3.7 | 8 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 78 | 57 | 4.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 83 | 61 | 3.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 58 | 3.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 50 | 3.2 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 59 | 36 | 2.2 | 4 | 0.8 |
| Nov | 42 | 23 | 0.9 | 2 | 4.9 |
| Dec | 29 | 11 | 0.6 | 2 | 7.8 |
| Year | 55 | 34 | 26.4 | 51 | 36.8 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Madison 2SE, SD (1,643 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 Madison
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 95 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Madison: 85 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 flash floods and 1 flood. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $4.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 110 mph, on May 12, 2022. September has had the most flash floods, 4 of 9. Of the 59 South Dakota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 34 have had fewer than Madison.
May 5, 2012: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Madison — 1 killed, $2.0 million damage.
NWS: “Heavy rainfall of up to 6 inches caused flash flooding of numerous roads, parks, fields, other low areas, and buildings including homes. At least 90 homes were heavily damaged in Madison by the flooding, including at least two with basement walls washed out.”
July 11, 2000: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Madison — $500,000 damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds caused widespread tree damage, damaged 90 to 95 trailers along the shore of Lake Madison, damaged more trailers near Wentworth, and damaged farm buildings.”
October 16, 1996: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Madison — $400,000 damage.
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 Madison's ZIP code 57042 have filed 226 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1982, and were paid $5.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 39 claims (17% of all) and $346,000, then Flooding in 1997 with 27. The year with the most claims was 2019, with 101. 31% 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, 23 have fewer than Madison.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 39 | $346,000 |
| Flooding1997 | 27 | $308,000 |
Lake County, which includes Madison, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 floods, 7 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 Lake County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes; Relatively Low for hail and strong wind; Very Low for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $11.7 million a year, the 18th highest of 66 South Dakota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $4.4 million (38%), 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 Madison
- Volga, SD22 mi
- Dell Rapids, SD24 mi
- Baltic, SD27 mi
- Flandreau, SD27 mi
- Brookings, SD28 mi
- Hartford, SD28 mi
- Garretson, SD34 mi
- Sioux Falls, SD38 mi
- Brandon, SD39 mi
- Parker, SD40 mi
- Pipestone, MN40 mi
- Tea, SD40 mi
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