NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Spearfish, 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 Spearfish, South Dakota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 43 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 43
- EF3 or stronger
- 4
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Spearfish
The highest rating among the 43 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 4 times; the most recent, on June 29, 1993, came within 9 miles. Of the 43, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 11 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 21. The most recent tornado was on July 10, 2020. Of the 61 South Dakota cities on this site, 79% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Spearfish. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 233 times since 1959, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Spearfish has more hail reports within 10 miles than 81% of the 61 South Dakota cities.
Compare Spearfish's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Spearfish
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2010s6
- 2000s2
- 1990s13(1 EF3+)
- 1980s1
- 1970s7(1 EF3+)
- 1960s8(2 EF3+)
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 29, 1993 | F3 | 9 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 25, 1975 | F3 | 18 mi | 11.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 18, 1965 | F3 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 12, 1965 | F3 | 18 mi | 20.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 6, 2020 | EF2 | 14 mi | 5.05 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 6, 2020 | EF2 | 16 mi | 2.06 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 2014 | EF2 | 24 mi | 16.51 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 13, 2009 | EF2 | 19 mi | 9.4 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 12, 1993 | F2 | 17 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 28, 1972 | F2 | 9 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 23, 1969 | F2 | 16 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 20, 1968 | F2 | 21 mi | 13.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 43, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Spearfish
The Storm Prediction Center has 233 hail reports within 10 miles of Spearfish since 1959, made on 141 separate days. Of these, 160 were 1 inch across or larger, and 16 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on June 19, 2015. The most recent report is from July 29, 2025. June has the most reports, 76.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Spearfish
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Spearfish, SD, in Spearfish at 3,633 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 58°F; January is the coolest, at 36°F and 16°F. May is the wettest at 3.7 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.6 inches; the year adds up to 21.4 inches over 53 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 26 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 144 nights a year. Snowfall averages 70.5 inches a year, most of it in December. That 21.4 inches is more than at 17 of the 43 South Dakota stations used on this site (40%). Whitewood, 12 miles east, has its own station (Fort Meade, SD): 21.3 inches a year, 0.1 less than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36 | 16 | 0.6 | 2 | 8.2 |
| Feb | 37 | 16 | 0.9 | 3 | 12.7 |
| Mar | 46 | 24 | 1.2 | 3 | 12.0 |
| Apr | 55 | 32 | 2.2 | 5 | 8.5 |
| May | 64 | 42 | 3.7 | 8 | 2.3 |
| Jun | 75 | 51 | 3.5 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 84 | 58 | 2.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 83 | 56 | 1.9 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 74 | 48 | 1.6 | 4 | 0.1 |
| Oct | 58 | 35 | 2.0 | 5 | 5.5 |
| Nov | 46 | 26 | 0.7 | 3 | 6.3 |
| Dec | 37 | 18 | 0.7 | 2 | 14.9 |
| Year | 58 | 35 | 21.4 | 53 | 70.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Spearfish, SD (3,633 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 Spearfish
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 82 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Spearfish: 73 thunderstorm wind reports, 4 flash floods, 2 floods, 2 heavy rain events and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 12, and the NWS estimated $10.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 109 mph, on August 1, 2000.
July 12, 2015: lightning strike 2 miles from the centre of Spearfish — 1 killed, 1 injured.
August 1, 2000: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Spearfish — 6 injured, $9.5 million damage.
July 23, 2001: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Spearfish — 5 injured, $213,000 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 Spearfish's ZIP code 57783 have filed 26 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $256,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2008, with 12. Of the 28 South Dakota cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 12 have fewer than Spearfish.
Lawrence County, which includes Spearfish, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 floods, 5 severe storms, 3 fires, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 5, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Lawrence County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for tornadoes and inland flooding; Very Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $16.1 million a year, the 15th 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 Spearfish
- Whitewood, SD12 mi
- Lead, SD12 mi
- Belle Fourche, SD19 mi
- Sturgis, SD21 mi
- Sundance, WY27 mi
- Piedmont, SD32 mi
- Black Hawk, SD35 mi
- Rapid City, SD43 mi
- Ellsworth Afb, SD46 mi
- Box Elder, SD48 mi
- Custer, SD50 mi
- Moorcroft, WY52 mi
All South Dakota cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Spearfish with another place →