NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Pine Ridge, 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 Pine Ridge, South Dakota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 40 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 40
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Pine Ridge
The highest rating among the 40 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2 or EF2, reached 5 times; the most recent, on July 26, 2016, came within 21 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on June 4, 1999, killed 1 person. Of the 40, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 12 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 19. The most recent tornado was on July 3, 2021. Of the 61 South Dakota cities on this site, 84% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Pine Ridge. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 86 times since 1980, with stones up to 3.25 inches. Of the 61 South Dakota cities, 64% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Pine Ridge.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Pine Ridge
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s3
- 2000s8
- 1990s16
- 1980s6
- 1970s2
- 1960s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 4, 1999 | F2 | 12 mi | 15 mi | 1 / 54 |
| Jul 26, 2016 | EF2 | 21 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 4, 1999 | F2 | 13 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 25, 1978 | F2 | 19 mi | 11.1 mi | 0 / 8 |
| May 20, 1962 | F2 | 16 mi | 3.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 20, 2006 | F1 | 25 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 6, 2004 | F1 | 23 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 21, 1984 | F1 | 1 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 21, 1981 | F1 | 5 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 28, 1976 | F1 | 21 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 16, 1969 | F1 | 24 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 1, 1961 | F1 | 23 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 40, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Pine Ridge
The Storm Prediction Center has 86 hail reports within 10 miles of Pine Ridge since 1980, made on 58 separate days. Of these, 60 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.25 inches, fell on July 27, 2018. The most recent report is from August 16, 2025. June has the most reports, 32.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Pine Ridge
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Pine Ridge Airport, SD, 3 miles southeast of Pine Ridge at 3,278 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 37°F and 12°F. June is the wettest at 3.0 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.3 inches; the year adds up to 16.7 inches over 39 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 46 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 181 nights a year. That 16.7 inches is more than at 0 of the 43 South Dakota stations used on this site (0%). Chadron, NE, 27 miles southwest, has its own station (Chadron 3SW, NE): 18.7 inches a year, 2.0 more than here, and the same July average high, 89°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 37 | 12 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Feb | 40 | 14 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Mar | 51 | 24 | 0.8 | 3 |
| Apr | 59 | 32 | 2.1 | 5 |
| May | 69 | 42 | 2.6 | 6 |
| Jun | 81 | 53 | 3.0 | 7 |
| Jul | 89 | 60 | 2.1 | 4 |
| Aug | 88 | 57 | 1.5 | 3 |
| Sep | 79 | 47 | 1.5 | 3 |
| Oct | 63 | 33 | 1.3 | 3 |
| Nov | 49 | 21 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Dec | 38 | 13 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Year | 62 | 34 | 16.7 | 39 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Pine Ridge Airport, SD (3,278 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 Pine Ridge
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 71 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Pine Ridge: 68 thunderstorm wind reports, 2 flash floods and 1 flood. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $531,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on August 18, 1997.
July 21, 2012: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Pine Ridge — 3 injured, $150,000 damage.
NWS: “Two mobile homes were rolled and completely destroyed, with all their contents scattered by the wind. A stick-built house lost a large portion of its roof.”
August 30, 2013: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Pine Ridge — $300,000 damage.
NWS: “5 miles west to two miles east of the Wolf Creek School. The school roof and some mobile homes were also damaged.”
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
FEMA's National Risk Index gives Oglala Lakota County, which includes Pine Ridge, a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for tornadoes and hail; Very Low for inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $8.5 million a year, the 28th highest of 66 South Dakota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $1.2 million (14%), 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 Pine Ridge
- Oglala, SD18 mi
- Chadron, NE27 mi
- Kyle, SD31 mi
- Gordon, NE44 mi
- Martin, SD48 mi
- Hot Springs, SD53 mi
- Hermosa, SD58 mi
- Alliance, NE64 mi
- Custer, SD74 mi
- Rapid City, SD78 mi
- Box Elder, SD78 mi
- Ellsworth Afb, SD80 mi
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